Live and Let Die
by Asuraa
Summary: Evil has always existed in people. But with the apparition of the metahumans the criminality began to flourish everywhere. The so-called superheroes have risen to stand against them, but why will the villains fear them when the worst they can get is a nice and warm place in jail? One of Gotham's delinquents is about to change that. After going through hell a true vigilante is born.
1. Chapter 1 - A deal with the Bat

**Disclaimer:** I don't own DC comics nor do I own Naruto. Expect Naruto to no act like his canon version. His is the real Naruto though his ooc-ness will be explained (chapter 9 for the less patient ones; but you will be spoiled)

 **AN:** It's a Naruto/DC comics crossover but with a different approach. The general course of events will mostly follow the Justice League animated series but not only. It's a "Weak to Strong" type of story so prepare for a very long ride. This is a dark fic.

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 1 - A deal with the Bat**

The loud noise made by a truck's horn was heard and a burly middle-aged man with his head out of the window shouted:

"Get your ass outta way faster, punk!"

But the one at whom he was shouting didn't bother to glance at him once. He simply ignored him, crossing the street at the same pace with his hands in his pockets. With a pair of orange headphones covering his ears, the teenager didn't even hear him in the first place.

Enraged at having been so blatantly ignored, the burly middle-aged aged man got down from the truck and headed purposely towards the boy to give him a piece of his mind. The young man truly was walking slowly so the burly truck driver reached him in no time. His large hand clamped hard on the young man's shoulder with the intention of shaking him up.

The slowly-walking person was a boy in his mid-teens. He was wearing a pair of baggy camo pants and a black sweatshirt with orange linings with a hoodie that covered his head.

 _Get up  
_ _When your body's screaming out_

 _[...]_

 _'Holy hell, it's almost like this song was written for me!'_ \- was what the boy exclaimed in his mind. It was the first time he was hearing this song and he was awed at its powerful instrumental and lyrics.

Suddenly, a heavy hand clamped hard on his shoulder, startling him from his happy inner world.

"I told ya to beat it faster, you son of a- Aaaargh!" the burly middle-aged man had begun to say but his words transformed into s scream of pain when the boy abruptly turned around and grabbed his wrist, violently twisting it.

"You're gonna break my arm, let go you crazy bastard!" the massive truck-driver screamed in a voice which was a mixture of anger, fear and pain. The boy had twisted his wrist so hard that the middle-aged man was forced on his knees and he was panting harshly in exertion.

"Oh, my bad." the boy said in a bored tone and a completely unrepentant manner.

He let go of the man wrist seemingly about to let him off but then all of a sudden his foot impacted the truck-driver's jaw knocking him out cold.

"That's for ruining my song, stupid fatass."

He bent down to the unconscious man and after rummaging through the pockets of his clothes he took his wallet.

"$4000?! Damn, I hit the jackpot! This guy must have just gotten his salary."

He was about to take them all but then his eyes fell on the small photo from the place where the cards should have been. It was a 7 maybe 8-year-old girl with blue eyes and a large toothy smile. Her brown hair was styled in two pigtails and her rosy face was stained with ice-cream.

A fierce internal battle was taking place in the boy's mind.

 _'Should I just take the money?'_ he asked himself but when he looked again at the innocent and adorable little girl he swallowed hard. He shook his head in frustration.

 _'I need money, lots of money... but not at this price.'_

In the end, he only took a $100 bill, leaving the other 39 bills in the wallet. The boy placed the wallet back into the middle-aged man's pocket and started to walk away.

Just then, the lampposts on the streets were lighted up. The boy looked at the darkening sky and then glanced at the prone silhouette of the man that had tried to attack him a few moments before. Another frown marred his face and he sighed in frustration.

The city the boy lived in was chaotic and dangerous even during daytime, let alone at night. Furthermore, the man was laying unconscious in the middle of the street. And although he was massive enough for other drivers to not run him over with their cars, they would surely not pass the chance to rob him of everything he had, his truck included.

"He was a douche...but I'd be an even bigger douche if I were to let him lay there like that." the boy muttered under his breath.

He turned back and with a low grunt he picked the massive man and put him on his shoulder. A stranger just passing by stared with his mouth gaping at the sight of a slender teenager picking up apparently effortlessly a man that easily weighted over 300 pounds.

The boy went to the truck's cabin and unceremoniously hurled the man inside. He got in as well and since the truck driver hadn't killed the engine when he had gotten down, it wasn't hard for him to drive the truck from the middle of the street to the side. Finishing doing that, the teen got out of the truck and after stopping the engine and slamming the door shut, he walked away.

"Argh! I'm too nice for my own good! Curse you, old man, this is only your fault!" the boy cursed, his frowning face becoming even more twisted at the memories playing at the front of his mind.

The old man whom he blamed his "weakness" of being too nice for his own good was a man named Hiruzen Sarutobi. An over 90-year-old man who had just died a few weeks before. It was the boy's grandfather and besides his older sister, the only other member of his family that he had ever had the chance to know. Sarutobi Hiruzen was the one that had raised the boy - Naruto Uzumaki - and his older sister.

As the boy Naruto walked away, he took out his phone and played again the song from where he left off. But as he turned right towards a smaller side-alley to shorten the time it took to get to his destination a silhouette suddenly appeared in front of him. In the darkness of the alley, costumed in his dark suit, covered by a black cloak and with his face obscured by a black mask with pointed ears the silhouette appeared like the embodiment of night: it was none other than the infamous vigilante that had made himself known to the public as the Protector and Enforcer of Justice in Gotham - Batman. It wasn't that long since he has started his activity but thanks to him the criminality rate was at an all-time low in Gotham, especially after just having arrested the psychopath serial-killer "The Joker" a few months before.

"I saw what you did back there." came the distorted deep voice from the superhero.

"So what now?" Naruto asked rather tense although he gave no outer sign betraying that.

"I also know where are you heading to right now." Batman said again in his deep voice.

Naruto visibly tensed this time and his baggy clothes became strained as his muscles suddenly bulged, prepared to spring into action in the split of a second if necessary.

"I won't take you to the police for that money you stole just now. But I want you to cooperate with me in exchange for that."

"What do you want me to do?" Naruto asked, not lowering his guard in the least.

In the same deep, emotionless voice that would send chills down a normal person's spine, Batman said:

"Naruto Uzumaki, 16 years old, blood type B, 5'4" tall, 112 pounds. A sophomore student attending Gotham County High School. Average grades: C. Has a sister Misaki Uzumaki, 18 years old, attending the same school but her grades are A-straight-"

"Get to the point." Naruto cut in rudely. After having gone through all the shit he has had his entire life amongst all the gangsters and criminals of Gotham, he was not easily intimidated by someone wearing a bat-themed costume.

"I was getting to it." Batman said and his eyes narrowed into his patented 'bat-glare'. He continued:

"Naruto Uzumaki... Has become an illegal underground fighter after his grandfather's death 5 weeks and 3 days ago. 21 Wins - 0 loses. Originally considered a "Dark Horse", the subject has become known as the Dark Fox due to the fox mask he wears in the ring and for his swift and brutal way of finishing off his opponents."

By the time Batman stopped talking Naruto had already taken out from his pocket a knife and grasped it in a reverse grip.

"Trust me, you don't want to do that." Batman growled with his eyes narrowed dangerously.

Naruto licked his lips nervously. But he wasn't going to let himself get caught that easily.

"You know, while you play the "Hero" game and squander millions of dollars on fancy weapons and cars, others struggle to even get something to eat. Right now, fighting is the fastest way for me to get-"

"-get enough money for your big sister to have the chance to enrol into a prestigious college." Batman cut Naruto off, continuing his words.

"How did you-" the boy tried to ask only for Batman to cut him off once again.

"I have my ways."

Naruto was starting to get seriously pissed. But then he remembered the words his grandfather would often tell him every time he lost focus or got mad at being beaten down in their sparring sessions in their dojo.

 _Flashback_

 _A very old man dressed in a simple black jumpsuit was standing in a Kung Fu stance. He was very short and skinny and his face was so wrinkled that his eyes were barely visible. He looked so old that those who didn't know him would think that he would barely be able to go by himself to the bathroom and back to bed. However, the gasping for air teenager that was half-kneeling in front of him was painfully aware of just how far was that from the truth. At the age of over 92, Sarutobi Hiruzen was still moving like a martial arts deity. This seemingly feeble old man was, in fact, a living legend of the Martial Arts world, someone who after surpassing his master Hashirama Senju, had never lost a fight in his entire life._

 _"Keep your head clear, Naruto! You're too hot-headed. Giving in to your anger will only make you play into your opponent's palm."_

 _"But I always KO everyone within a minute from starting to fight!" Naruto retorted. "No-one lasts against me long enough to take advantage of me not being 'clear-head' and whatnot."_

 _Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly let out a shout and stomped harshly on the wooden floor. A sense of dread enveloped Naruto and he felt like a mountain was pressing against the back of his neck._

 _"You think you're already a hot shot just because you beat a few punks on the streets?"_

 _"Hmph! How laughable!"_

 _"What if you are one day going to face someone like me? What if you're going to face someone even more powerful?"_

 _"But there's no-one as powerful as you!" Naruto said categorically. And it wasn't that he was trying to 'lick the boots' of the old man. To Naruto, his grandfather had always been the strongest! Even after those so-called metahumans began popping-up, Naruto's opinion of his grandfather still remained the same...after all, he had seen it with his own eyes how by using only a single punch his grandpa had knocked unconscious an 8 feet tall metahuman that could easily bend steel with his hands. Even the infamous and ruthless criminals of Gotham avoided the "Monkey King's Dojo" like the plague._

 _"Listen to me, Naruto! The time when martial artists were seen as the strongest hand-to-hand combatants has passed decades ago. Nowadays a serum could offer someone more strength than what an ordinary person couldn't possibly get even after a lifetime of arduous training."_

 _"This is why I'm telling you that at some point you will surely meet individuals even stronger than me. What will you do against someone more powerful than you? Do you think going berserk would help you any?"_

 _"Keep your mind sharp! Don't give into your opponent's provocation!"_

 _"Breathe in!"_

 _"Feel the chakra coursing through your meridians."_

 _"Exhale!"_

 _[...]_

 _Flashback End_

Naruto breathed in and felt that mysterious energy that bubbled within his dantian. When he exhaled the air from his lungs, his chakra began to rush through the meridians that he had managed to unlock with the help of his grandfather in the past. When the fiery hot chakra from his dantian invaded all of his meridians, a calm sense of confidence washed over him and he felt his muscles become as powerful as those of a tiger and his tendons as those of a dragon. He was brimming with strength.

"What do you want from me?" he asked.

Batman's hand went to his utility belt and he took out a small photo from it before throwing it towards the boy. Naruto caught the photo in surprise - it was needed for a considerable amount of skill to throw a malleable photograph as if it were a shuriken. That spoke enough about Batman's level of skill.

"Do you recognise him?"

Naruto glanced at the small photo in his right hand. It was the photo of a tall and seemingly powerful man with a muscular body. He was dressed in a yellow suit and a very realistic tiger mask covered his entire head giving off the impression that he was a half-man, half-tiger being.

"Bronze Tiger." Naruto whispered.

"You have a bone to pick with this guy? Better go back to your villa rich-boy. No matter what fancy gadgets you may have, you're no match for him. No-one is." finished Naruto shaking his head in a helpless fashion.

The curious thing for the boy, though, was that Batman didn't even try to refute his words. However, the boy didn't miss the brief moment when the costumed man in front of him clenched his fists. But that too ended in a heartbeat, seeing as Batman regained his composure immediately.

"I'm well aware of his background, and that, even more than you." Batman said.

"Again, what do you want from me? My next match starts in 15 minutes."

"You look rather unconcerned about me being in front of you." Batman pointed out.

Although Naruto was a bit nervous, it wasn't to the point of being afraid.

"You're just an ordinary man with a shit-ton of money... and I'm no pushover either. If you think I'm going to be submissive to you just because you're dressed up in a Halloween suit, you're sorely mistaken." Naruto said and as to enforce his words, with chakra madly rushing through his limbs, he stomped the asphalt hard, small spidery-cracks appearing below his foot. It took a considerable amount of his chakra to manage that feat but Naruto had wanted to get his point across - that he wasn't going down without a fight.

Batman didn't say anything for a few moments, this new display of power from the teenager in front of him creating an entirely new development. And he was certainly going to make use of it.

"How good are you at throwing projectiles?" Batman asked as if he already knew that Naruto had received this kind of training.

Naruto didn't try to ask how did he know of that anymore. He was resigned with the fact that "the caped douchebag" in front of him probably knew even what colour his underwear had. Therefore, Naruto flipped the small knife from his hand into the air and then he grabbed it from the blade.

"Give me a target." he said.

Batman simply picked up a trash can from the dirty side alley with his foot and threw it high up in the air. An instant later the sound of the knife cutting through the air was heard and the blade of the knife pierced through the can as though it were made of tofu.

"Not bad." Batman praised. His hand went to his utility belt again and from there he took out 3 tiny darts which he handed over to the still cautious teenager.

"You have 3 days to find an opportunity to shot Bronze Tiger with one of these."

"Poisoned darts? They're surprisingly heavy." Naruto muttered under his breath but then he asked:

"Why would I do that? What's in it for me? You taking Bronze Tiger down would take down my source of income as well."

And indeed, the illegal underground fighting tournament was organized by Bronze Tiger. So if Bronze Tiger was taken down, everyone involved would have something to lose. And Naruto was not one to care about whether something was legal or not as long as he wasn't pushed to cross his personal limits - and fighting for money in a cage against other criminals and streets rats was not something that stained his consciousness; especially given that he was doing all that with the purpose of raising enough money for his sister to attend a good college. In fact, Misaki Uzumaki was not even aware of the fact that her brother was risking his life in illegal fights in a cage.

Batman frowned at the teenager in front of him but that was obscured by his mask. He didn't like people not fearing what he represented... but Batman pushed down that tiny shred of vanity. Bronze Tiger was going to pay for what he had done...and if it took throwing a carrot to a starving donkey to make it happen, he had no qualms about that.

"You do your part and I'll pay your sister's tuition until she graduates the college."

* * *

AN:

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made)_


	2. Chapter 2 - Mad Dogs Gang

AN: I was surprised that so many of you favourited this story. I was really glad and it pumped me up so much that I began to write the next chapter right away. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Mad Dogs Gang**

"Kill him!"

"Rip his head off!"

"Destroy him!"

Were the roars coming from the bloodlusted crowd. There, in the middle of a large warehouse, a ring had been erected and two fighters were facing each other in a bloody fight.

On one side of the ring, a huge silhouette stood like a ferocious beast. It was 7 feet tall man packed with bulging muscles and with red tattoos all over his grey-coloured skin. And if he didn't have a fierce appearance already, the flesh on half of his face was peeled off revealing a metallic skull... It was unexpectedly a cyborg... but his opponent had realized that way too late.

On the other side of the ring, in stark contrast with the gigantic grey-skinned cyborg, a rather ordinary-looking Asian teenager was barely standing on one of his feet while clinging himself from the fence of the cage. His fox-themed mask laid in pieces on the ring's floor, his sun-kissed blonde hair was painted red with his own blood, 4 deep scratches gushed with blood on his chest and the skin of his left leg was purple in colour while the shin was bent in an unnatural angle.

 _'Why did it come to this?'_ the boy thought desperately.

Two days had passed since he had made that deal with Gotham's vigilante and until this moment Naruto had fought in 3 more matches with the current one being the fourth. It was the final match. Apparently, when Batman gave him 3 days to find an opportunity to shoot Bronze Tiger with the poisoned darts it was because Batman had known beforehand that the final match of the illegal tournament would take place in three days. And Bronze Tiger was a very well protected individual. Not only was he a legendary martial artist in his own right but there was also quite the number of bodyguards surrounding him every time he came to watch the fights.

The purpose of the tournament was not a secret for anyone. Besides the monetary prize, the winner of the final would be offered the chance to become something like an apprentice or disciple of the famed martial artist. Suffice to say that the winner would also have no financial problems anymore under Bronze Tiger's tutelage.

Naruto wanted to shoot Bronze Tiger with the poisoned darts, but so far he had not been offered he opportunity. The only chance he had now was to win the tournament and when Bronze Tiger himself will come into the ring to declare him the winner, he'll make use of the opportunity... but given the present situation, Naruto would consider himself to be lucky if he could even get out alive from the cage. And that's because each round of the match lasted 3 minutes or until one of the fighters was knocked out...or killed. The fighters were locked in the cage-like ring and no amount of pleading would make the judges open it if one of the above-mentioned conditions was not fulfilled.

Until this last match, Naruto had blasted his way through his opponents. With agility surpassing an ordinary human's capabilities and thanks to the martial arts training received from his grandfather ever since he was a toddler he had rarely even gotten hit - that's how he had managed to keep his "nightly activities" a secret from his older sister. His agility and martial arts coupled with the use of his chakra had made most of his fights end with instant knockouts. Because Naruto only had to get a good hit in and the opponent would be wasted. But in the last match, Naruto had both figuratively and literally hit a very hard metal plate. He had easily dodged the grey brute's slow and wide punches at first and while bearing in his mind the intention to end the match in one hit again, Naruto had pumped almost all of the chakra in his body towards his legs, towards the left one especially. Jumping high up in the air, with chakra boiling fiercely in his legs, he delivered towards the grey-skinned giant's head a marvellous round-house kick - his grandfather called this move "Konoha Senpuu."

It was a highly destructive move which with the aid of chakra could even shatter concrete walls... But when Naruto's shin impacted the cyborg's head, it was snapped like a flimsy twig!

At that moment, in the midst of the excruciating pain, his deceased grandfather's words rang at the front of his mind:

 _"Listen to me, Naruto! The time when martial artists were seen as the strongest hand-to-hand combatants has passed decades ago. Nowadays a serum could offer someone more strength than what an ordinary person could possibly achieve even after a lifetime of arduous training."_

The opponent in front of him was probably not given a serum to boost his physical capabilities, but Naruto had finally understood and was finally forced to accept the truth behind those words. The giant in front of him was even worse than a street punk when it came to his technique. He was simply throwing around punches like a stupid gorilla, relying on his brute force and the iron defence of his body to get the job done. But the disparity in the physical capabilities between him and Naruto was so large that no amount of skill could give the teenager an edge in this fight. That's what absolute power meant. No amount of skill could cover this gap.

Fortunately, after Naruto fell to the ground screaming in pain at having his shin snapped, the giant didn't immediately try to stomp him. Although Naruto was left with the most grievous injury, the cyborg had not been left untouched either. The skin over half of his face had been ripped off and quite a few of the circuits of the metallic part of his skull had been rattled.

It took an inhuman amount of effort for Naruto to not pass out from the pain, let alone stand up to his feet. But he gnashed his teeth and grabbed the fence of the cage with his fingers, forcing himself to get up. In that moment he remembered the lyrics of the song he had listened to 2 days ago:

 _When your body's screaming out_

 _Get up_

 _And your hope is fading now_

 _Get up_

He wanted to scream to pump himself up, but he didn't have enough force to do that. He merely grit his teeth and gripped the fence harder. Right then, the cyborg who seemed like it was malfunctioning smashed his large fist into Naruto's head.

Blood began to gush like a spring from his head and his previously blonde hair was now dyed crimson red. But he didn't feel any pain from the hit. It was nothing in comparison with what he felt from the broken bone in his leg that threatened to pierce through the flesh. His brain was incapable of registering other tactile stimuli besides those coming from the nerves of his broken shin.

 _'I lost._ _I'm so fucking pathetic.'_

 _'I'm dying and I haven't even gotten my sister enough money for her to have a chance to live a good life... to get away from this hellhole called Gotham.'_ \- were Naruto's thoughts as he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness.

But the cyborg brute didn't seem content with letting the teenager simply fall unconscious. Although his movements were now slow and robotic-like after the kick to his head made him malfunction, the cyborg's enormous fists began to rain upon the barely conscious teenager.

An enraged scream was suddenly heard above all the excited roars of the crowd:

"OPEN THE CAGE FUCKERS, DON'T YOU SEE HE'S KNOCKED OUT ALREADY?"

The voice came from a 16 or 17-year-old teenager. His black biker jacket and leather pants coupled with the mess of spiky brown hair and the two fang tattoos on each of his cheeks gave him a wild and dangerous appearance.

But the judges were left unimpressed by his shout and ignored him...however, that only made the teenager become even more enraged. No-one ignored the Mad Dogs and got away in one piece! He went to the judges' table and with a roar, he violently smashed one of judges' head into the table. A pocket knife made its way into his hand and with a growl he said:

"Open the fucking cage or I'll fucking slit his throat." and to show them he wasn't just a bag full of hot air, he pressed the blade of the knife to the whimpering man's neck almost drawing blood.

"Security!" one of the judges shouted in panic but the biker teenager truly wasn't playing around. The knife plunged into the judge's neck and blood began to spurt while the man's screams were choked by his own blood.

Around twenty men suddenly made their way from the "VIP booth" with guns in their hands and the hundreds of the spectators in the warehouse all started to scream and run away in panic. But once again, there was no hint of fear on the tattooed teenager's face. He put two fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly.

The large doors of the warehouse were suddenly yanked away from their hinges by a bunch of ropes tied to a large Hummer. 30 to 40 bikers with similar fang-like tattoos on their faces rushed in riding their bikes and screaming loudly with crowbars in their hands. They started to run over with their bikes and hit with the crowbars everyone in their way not caring about anyone's identity.

And everyone scurried out of their way like scared sheep. When through the doors of the warehouse two women that were barely holding from their leashes fifteen large Pitbull dogs came the bystanders were all terrified.

It was in moments like this one that the scum of Gotham and the interlopers all understood why the Mad Dogs Gang from Chinatown was one of the most dangerous factions from Gotham City's criminal world.

Bronze Tiger had wanted at first to jump into the fight to settle down everything with his own hands but when he saw the fifteen bloodthirsty Pitbull dogs he changed his mind right away. He could deal with 4 maybe even 6 or 7 of the dogs if they were to pounce on him but with 15 bloodthirsty beasts at the same time? That was suicide. The suitcase with the money prize was left with the judges of the match but he left it without looking back. It wasn't like losing 100 thousand dollars was that much of a hit for him. Bronze Tiger was a worldwide known top martial artist and assassin. This sum of money was only pocket money for him.

The cage covering the ring was lifted right away and the younger of the two women let go of the 7 dogs she was holding.

"Rip that fucking bastard to shreds!" she shouted and the beasts couldn't be any happier to comply. They understood who were they were supposed to rip apart because, from the two beings in the ring, they were familiar with the smaller one. He was one of their master's friends.

With a howl, the bloodthirsty dogs plunged towards the grey-skinned giant and bit from all over his body, savagely ripping off entire chunks of his flesh. These were not ordinary Pitbull dogs. They had been carefully bred and trained by the gang for generations. It was to the point that the Inuzuka Family that controlled the Mad Dogs gang even had the backing of the Military thanks to providing them with such powerful and intelligent fighting dogs.

The giant never stood a chance. In less than 10 minutes all that was left of him on the ring was a metallic half of a skull and a titanium arm. Even the blood was licked clean.

Unbeknownst to anyone, during the chaos created by the attack of the gang of bikers, a black shadowy silhouette slipped away on Bronze Tiger's pursuit.

* * *

AN:

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta. Sorry for the mistakes I may have made)_


	3. Chapter 3 - Brother and Sister

AN:

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 3 - Brother and Sister**

 _Naruto's POV_

My grandfather, Sarutobi Hiruzen was a legend in the martial arts world. He was well-versed in pretty much all of the most widespread martial arts in the world, but what he was known worldwide for was his mastery over the Monkey Fist style of Kung Fu and the use of the Bo staff. He was unrivalled to the point where if he were to choose to participate in a tournament, half of the participants would drop out right away just at the sight of his name. There was simply no winning against him. That was the case even more than so after he discovered the secrets of chakra.

One can never reach grandpa's level of skill without dedicating his entire body, mind and soul to martial arts. As grandpa used to say, martial arts are not about killing primarily, but about reaching that harmony between the body and the mind, between the physical part with the spiritual part... but I'm getting side-tracked here... The thing is that there was no way for a man that was this dedicated to martial arts to not try to transmit his legacy to his children - in this case to his grandchildren. Don't be mistaken: although he was a great man, grandpa was not perfect. Often times he had been almost cruel in his punishments and his stubbornness was something to be feared. Therefore, when my sister and I became 5 and respectively 7, grandpa began to teach us martial arts.

It was a gruelling training. For example, have you ever been forced to stay in the Horse Stand for 4 hours straight? I dare say it was inhuman to make such a little kid do something like this - which is the reason why sister ran away from home at 2 years from the starting of the training when she was 9.

To this very day, I still remember grandpa's angry visage and my big sister's tear-streaked face when the police brought Misaki back home. And I could never forget that feeling that torn my heart apart when he slapped her.

It was in that moment that a fierce resolve was born in my heart: to protect big sis. Sounds like something the protagonist of shounen manga would say, doesn't it?

Haha.

But there was a valid reason for my thoughts besides the emotional impact of grandpa hitting Misaki. You have to consider where were we living: Gotham City. Although I was young, orphan kids tend to mature much faster than their peers. Even at the age of 7 when big sis ran away from home, I was aware of how life was in Gotham. I was aware of what dangers a girl was exposed to, especially someone as beautiful as my big sister.

What? Yeah, she's very good-looking! What am I even saying? She's the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my entire life! And if I - her brother - can see that, imagine how other people see her. Now, at the age of 18 years old, Misaki could probably contend for Miss USA if she were interested. With her fit and hourglass-like body figure, her baby-blue eyes and the lustrous crimson-red hair that reaches her waist she would have 90% chance to win in my opinion. But alas, I don't think she'd be allowed to participate with the "tattoos" on her face... Yeah, for some reason, my sister and I both have some weird whiskers-like birthmarks on our faces: she has 2 on each of her cheeks while I have 3 on each cheek. But that only makes her even prettier if you ask me.

I asked grandpa a few times what was the reason we're different but he said that it must've been just a minor mutation of our genes because neither of our parents had such birthmarks on their faces.

Come to think of it, you don't know a thing about my parents... well, I don't know too much either. I only know that they were named Kushina Uzumaki and Minato. That's right, I don't know my father's surname and for some reason, grandpa refused to tell me. He said that it was for our protection.. apparently, dad had not been an ordinary individual...

But I do know that while my mother was Japanese, my father was not. I suspect that he was most likely Russian. I also do know that except for the whisker-like birthmarks on our cheeks, my sister and I are almost like carbon-copies of our parents. I have a photo of my mom and dad at their wedding. Misaki looks now like a younger sister of my mother while I look like a younger brother of my father but while mom had Asian facial features and Dad had Caucasian facial features, Misaki and I with are a combination of them with both half-Asian and half-Caucasian traits.

But as I was saying, from the moment I saw grandpa slapping Misaki's face, a special desire was born inside me: to protect my big sister. It pained me that she was forced to do something she didn't like, that she was crying. I can recall the scene perfectly despite that almost 9 years have passed since then.

 _Flashback_

 _"Ojisan! Don't hit big sister anymore!" the 7-year-old me cried out while getting in between grandpa and my sister._

 _"You said something, brat?" my grandpa shouted sternly with his hand raised up to hit again._

 _But I didn't back down._

 _"I-..."_

 _I clenched my fists resolutely._

 _"Hit me instead!"_

 _Although I was with the back turned to Misaki, I could almost feel the surprise on her face. From grandfather's widened eyes I knew that he was stunned speechless as well._

 _I was very little back then. Hot tears began to pour from my eyes as I cried:_

 _"Don't hit big sister. Don't make her train anymore!"_

 _In my simple-minded way I said:_

 _"Hit me instead. Train me instead! I'll train even harder than I've done until now. I'll train in her place too! I promise I'll become the strongest and make you proud! I'll become the best in the entire world!"_

 _Flashback end_

This rather embarrassing memory aside, from that moment onwards things have completely changed in our household. Surprisingly enough, grandpa had become as gentle with Misaki as any other ordinary grandfather. Misaki had begun to live a comfortable life like any of the other ordinary girls of her age. Her very good looks and sweet personality made her very popular amongst both boys and girls. She made a lot of buddies and became best friends with Barbara Gordon, a fellow redhead chick that happens to be the daughter of James Gordon, the commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department.

That being said, grandpa's nice attitude toward big sis was counterbalanced by him becoming twice as stern and strict with me.

I remember that 2-3 years ago, like any other punk on the streets, I also started to drink and picked up smoking thinking that it was cool. Before long I have even gotten into smoking weed. But somehow my grandpa got wind of it... and when he did... well, let's say that the left cheek of my butt has never been same. The following three months after the incident have also been marked by sparring sessions every day in which my sole objective was in grandpa's own words _"Dodge my Bo staff and try your best not to die."_

Despite all these things, I can't say that I resent the old man. He was exceedingly strict and severe but as I grew up and my mind matured more I understood that he meant well. At the very least, this set of skills that he had ingrained in my body have more than once saved my life in this dangerous city. Furthermore, I actually got my heart's desire fulfilled: I became strong enough to protect my big sister... and the guys I had beaten half to death along the years in order to shoo them away are probably more than fifty.

Wonder why? I'm a guy. I know very well what other guys are like, especially those in Gotham. They only want to hook up with her and use her body. Fucking shitstains! There's no way I'd let those filthy motherfuckers touch my sister!

There had been a few brave souls that had dared to try to get close to Misaki despite knowing who her brother was but a broken leg, a dislocated shoulder or a few kicks in the face made them change their mind rapidly. In fact, that's how I even became acquainted with the Mad Dogs Gang. I had beaten up Kiba and the 5 other goons that are always following him around for trying to hit on Misaki. I had wrecked them so bad that it got to the point where he threatened to sick his family's fighting dogs on me. In retrospect, had Kiba's elder sister, Hana, not intervened at the right moment, things would have gotten really bad for me because while I could have won against 10 guys all by myself, I would have had no chance in front of an entire gang like the Mad Dogs.

That being said, while with the passing of time Kiba has started to respect me for some weird reason, we've never become friends.

Truth being told though, it's very hard for people like me to make friends...Are those living in the darker side of Gotham even able to say that they have friends?

Tsk.

Being a part of a gang or of a tamer criminal organization can probably give you something close to that. But true friends? Doubtful.

At least someone like me can't make friends because on the streets the saying "Those who are not with us are against us" is especially true. You can't stay neutral. You're either part of a gang or a part of a criminal organization. Those like me who could stay unaffiliated could probably be counted on the fingers of one hand. You'd have to either be a dangerous individual willing to get your hands dirty if the situation calls for it - kind of like I am - or to be acquainted with important or influential figures. That's why no sane person would try to approach someone who has such a bad reputation as I do...and those who actually did it were doing it with various hidden reasons in their mind.

But my sister Misaki is the best friend I could have possibly asked for. As long as I have her, why would I need someone else?

 _Naruto POV - End_

While he pondered about these things Naruto was helplessly lying in a hospital bed. His entire head was wrapped in bandages to the point where only his eyes and his mouth were visible. Not only was his head bandaged, but his left leg from the knee downwards was also encased in a gips cast and bandages were also wrapped around his torso and his arms. He looked like a living mummy.

Two days have passed since his brush past death at the hands of that Cyborg metahuman. It was the first time Naruto had lost a fight against someone. Because of his superior strength, agility and skill that he had obtained thanks to more than a decade of martial arts training, ordinary punks posed no threat for him. Even other highly trained individuals wouldn't really have too much of a chance against Naruto because of his chakra. Because of that Naruto had been confident that even metahumans would not necessarily be a challenge for him. However, after facing the cyborg Naruto realized just how conceited he had been. It was laughable.

Suddenly, the door of the hospital room made a sound and Naruto who had been looking at the ceiling until then turned his eyes to the noise. A gentle expression surfaced into his blue eyes when he saw who was the newcomer: a 5'4" tall and beautiful girl with waist-length red hair and 2 whisker-like birthmarks on her face came in. However, her normally bubbly presence was gone. Dark bags were under her eyes...eyes which were puffy and red and her face was stained by numerous dried streaks of tears. It looked like she had stayed up all night, crying until she had no more tears to shed.

"Onii-chan!" (1)

Her voice trembled. It was the first time Misaki had seen Naruto being hurt so badly. She was aware of how often her brother got into brawls and fights with other delinquents but she had never been too worried. Her little brother was very strong - 11 years under the tutelage of a legendary martial artist would make an elite out of anyone. Naruto had never lost a fight before. But now there he was: wrapped in so many bandages that he was unrecognizable.

She came closer to the side of the bed and took a seat on the nearby stool. With shaky hands, the girl took her brother's right hand and caressed his bandaged fingers.

"T-They said you were in a coma! They said you lost too much blood and that you'll probably never wake up!"

"They wouldn't even let me see you!" Misaki sobbed.

Although a feeling of nausea came when he tried to move his body, Naruto brought himself up into a seating position. Misaki understood his intention and she climbed in bed beside him, letting herself being embraced.

"Shh, I'm fine, aren't I? You know I'm tougher than that." Naruto said and caressed her head affectionately.

Misaki wanted to retort angrily at his words: how was he fine? A broken leg, a fractured skull and his arms and torso covered in purple bruises!

But she swallowed her words. Her brother had nearly died and he has just woken up. She understood that he was probably feeling weak and ill and that her screams were the last thing in the world that he wanted to hear at the moment. She would throw a tantrum other time.

"Mrs. Inuzuka told me... I-.. I know what you've done during the past month, onii-chan.." she began to say only for Naruto to interrupt her hurriedly.

"Misaki-chan, all I wanted was for you to-"

But Misaki didn't let him continue his words either. She clenched her fingers in an almost painful hold around Naruto's arm that hugged her and said:

"W-What if you died? What if that beast killed you?"

Her breathing was getting ragged and she was almost hyperventilating. It took a while for her to calm down.

"We only have each other now, Naruto." she continued with the same trembling voice. "Our parents died when we were little, we have no aunts nor uncles and grandpa also passed away last month."

She buried her face into his chest and said while tears began to flow from her eyes with no restraint:

"I can't bear with losing you as well, Naruto. You're the only family I have left."

Naruto's body shivered at the anguish in her voice and he could only hug her tighter even if doing that was causing him to nearly lose his breath at the pain coming from his bruises. But he couldn't trust his voice to say anything without giving away his own emotions...and he didn't want to break in front of her. Naruto was the like rock from which Misaki was clinging on in order to not get swallowed by the agitated sea... If even the seemingly immovable rock broke, what hope would be left there for Misaki? For her sake, Naruto was not allowing himself to show weakness.

None of them spoke after that. Lulled by Naruto gently caressing her head Misaki soon fell into a deep sleep. After spending an entire night crying and being tormented by worries she had finally reached her limit.

Naruto looked at lightly snoring Misaki and couldn't help smiling. He wanted to cover her up with the blanket but when she got into the bed, Misaki plopped herself on it. However, she was a very light sleeper and he didn't want to risk waking her up. Naruto took his side of the blanket and wrapped her with it. Although he was injured and needed all the comfort possible for his wounds to heal faster, he only thought about making his sister have a comfortable sleep.

Naruto continued to look at her sleeping form but after a while, his tiredness caught up to him. After losing so much blood in the ring he was feeling very weak. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and then he closed his eyes, falling asleep as well. His forehead fell and rested against hers and he unconsciously tightened his arms around her causing a small smile to bloom on Misaki's angelic face.

* * *

AN:

(1) I know it's a term used for older brother but it's not a mistake - Naruto has always acted as the older sibling between him and Misaki so she started looking up to him as such.

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made)_


	4. Chapter 4 - New aspirations

AN:

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – New aspirations**

The bell signalling the end of the class rang and given how boring the History teacher was, Naruto was not the only one who exclaimed in his thoughts _'Thank God it finally ended!'_

This was the first day coming to school again for Naruto after an absence of two weeks and suffice to say, he was less than enthusiastic about it. It wasn't because he was too stupid to understand the subjects... it was just that for him school seemed pointless; a waste of time.

After spending his entire life in the midst of gangsters and other types of less than honest people, Naruto understood that the real power was being held not by the educated ones but by the wealthy people, by the ones with connections. If some of them happened to also have a diploma, that was most of the time because they had attended a college in order to meet new people and make new connections, to expand their influence. Sure, those truly brilliant, the hardworking individuals could get a stable financial situation in the future... but why would Naruto want to choose that route when he could simply find a random criminal on the streets and turn him in at the interested parties in exchange for a sum of money? That's right, being a minor bounty hunter was much more rewarding for Naruto than studying like mad in order to obtain someday a job where his boss would work his ass out every day.

 _'How boring.'_ Naruto lamented. _'Should I skip classes again?'_

 _'I'd rather go home and take a nap in my own bed instead of sleeping in class.'_

He grabbed his skateboard in one hand, his grey backpack in the other one and left the classroom without as much as saying good-bye to anyone there...that's because if he did that the girls and even some of the boys would probably start crying. Naruto almost felt tempted to do it and he had to stifle a chuckle at the thought of how would his classmates react. But the fact that everyone would flee in panic to the principal afterwards made him give up on that. He was just not in the mood to be nagged at and threatened with the cops.

As he walked out of the classroom through the corridors of the school his fellow students all quieted down as if they were at a funeral. They even stuck themselves to the walls of the halls like the military to give him space and no-one dared to meet his eyes.

To be fair though, Naruto didn't have the appearance of an extremely dangerous guy: a pair of grey jeans, a dark red hoodie, white sneakers, a grey backpack and a skateboard - he looked almost like an average teenager. Almost. When you looked at his face you'd take your words back about him being ordinary. There was a steel-like intensity coming from his blue eyes and the scowl that was permanently etched on his face coupled with his whisker-like "tattoos" gave him a rather mean appearance. His unusual facial features combined with his bad reputation made everyone avoid and fear him.

"Onii-chan, you're skipping classes again?" came the exasperated voice of Misaki from behind him and Naruto's previously scowling face was lighted up by such a bright and innocent smile that some of the girls watching him found themselves involuntarily blushing. It's not a secret that many teen girls dreamed about a "bad boy" that would act like a hard-ass to anyone except for them. And that's exactly how Naruto looked like in their eyes: he was a badass and he seemed to hate everyone around him except for his sister. In fact, his very bad reputation was gained exactly because of his care for Misaki - for example, the last guy who had tried to get into her pants had had his wrist snapped by Naruto in the middle of a class, right under the eyes of the P.E. teacher. When pulling off this kind of acts, was there anything to be surprised in regards to other students' fear of him?

"Aw, come on, sis, you know how boring is this for me!" Naruto turned towards the voice and said in an almost whiny voice that made the surrounding students feel chills go down their spine. They had a hard time accepting that a violent punk like him could act like that because usually, they didn't have the chance to watch the siblings' interactions.

Misaki simply sighed. She knew that Naruto was coming to school only for her sake. Had it not been for her he would have dropped out a long time ago. Him coming to school was simply to act as a deterrent for the fuckboys that might have had the hots for her. She began to walk alongside Naruto as he headed towards the exit of the school. When they got out Naruto took her by surprise and hugged her, a grin marring his face at her squeak of surprise.

"N-Not here, dumbass!"

Naruto let go of her and teased her all the while sporting a shit-eating grin on his face:

"Why, you make it sound like we were doing something else.."

Misaki's face reddened so hard that just a little bit more and steam would have come out.

"Haha, just kidding." Naruto laughed heartily and poked at her nose. "I'm going to Ichiraku's now, want me to bring you something for when you get home?"

Misaki's embarrassment vanished like magic when she heard the name "Ichiraku" and a longing expression appeared in her eyes. Her mouth got watery but she shook her head resolutely and swallowed her saliva.

"N-No, thank you." she barely managed to squeeze out some words.

Naruto was having the time of his life inwardly laughing at the mental battle Misaki was having against herself.

Ichiraku's was a rather famous restaurant in the Chinatown district of Gotham City. Besides other delicious dishes, Ichiraku was known for its heavenly ramen. There was nobody in the entire New Jersey state of the USA that had not heard about it at least once. In fact, Consumer Protection Agency had even suspected at some point the owner of Ichiraku Restaurant of drugging the food after seeing how many of their customers were almost addicted to their ramen.

...And it just so happens that both Naruto and Misaki were huge ramen consumers as well. If ramen were a drug then they'd be the worst junkies in existence... and while Naruto could eat like a filthy pig with no worries, Misaki was tortured with the fear of getting fat. Naruto exercised and trained a lot...it was rather understandable that he'd need a lot of energy to burn so he had to eat large amounts of food. But Misaki was just an ordinary girl. She didn't like exercising and getting sweaty. Apart from her angelic looks, she was no different from any other teenager: she loved shopping and hanging out with friends, she listened to mainstream music and she dressed in tone with the last trend. Therefore, inside Misaki's mind, there has always been an endless war for the last 5 years or so.

She had one existential problem: to gorge herself with ramen like a fat piece of shit or to keep a slim waist and toned body?

Sometimes she managed to win against her ramen addiction, but more often than not she lost the battle miserably. That was especially the case when Naruto felt in the mood to tease her with describing the glorious taste and heavenly aroma of the food of gods. Like he did right then for example:

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked slyly. "Don't you miss the flavour of the broth after you slurp the noodles at Miso ramen? No, no, wait, Shoyu ramen is even better! Oh, that spicy dish that old man Teuchi made three days ago was glorious! It smelled like-"

"Argh! Just go already, asshole!" Misaki shouted and Naruto began to cackle as he left a very flustered and clearly drooling Misaki behind.

After Naruto left, the playful voice of a girl was heard:

"Just look at you: red-faced, breathing hotly and with that intense look in your eyes... if I didn't know any better I'd say you're aroused. Are you such a glutton?"

"Barbara!" Misaki shouted and stomped her feet in embarrassment which only made the girl in front of her laugh even harder.

 _Scene break_

"751.. 752... 753.."

...

"897.. 898.. 899.. 900!"

When he said 900, Naruto collapsed on his chest breathing so hard that you'd think he had just finished running a marathon.

After returning home from Ichiraku Restaurant, Naruto started his daily training because although his grandfather had died and that there was nobody to force him to train anymore, it had already become a part of his life. After relentlessly training every day for the past 11 years, martial arts have already become a part of his persona. And he has never slacked even once, always striving to surpass his previous limits. He was trying to do that even more now after having lost against the cyborg two weeks before.

Finished with the push-ups set, Naruto existed the dojo and went to the back yard where the training dummies were stored. The muscles of his entire body bulged in exertion and with a grunt of effort he picked up the largest log he could find. It was so thick that a grown-up man would not be able to circle it with his hands and it easily weighted over 500 pounds. After putting the large and heavy wooden log in the middle of the yard he grabbed a shovel and in a few minutes, he dug a 5 feet deep hole in the ground. His speed was nothing if not impressive. Then he picked up the enormous log again and put it inside the hole that he had dug up. He put back a part of the soil in the hole and while using his chakra, he stomped hard on the ground around the log to fix it well. Then he carried the leftover soil to one of the corners of the yard.

"That should do it." Naruto said pleased at his work.

It wasn't much, but what he needed was a very sturdy target to resist against a few thousands of hits every day - that's why he had chosen such a thick and heavy wooden log.

After having lost against that metahuman, a sense of crisis loomed over Naruto's mind constantly:

 _'What if one day another one of those freaky metahumans attacks Misaki? What will I be able to do?'_

That's the kind of thoughts that were secretly tormenting his mind every day. And he hated being weak. He hated being afraid for his sister's safety. He hated to lose.

Naruto let out a shout and he kicked the log hard with his right leg. He winced in pain as the skin on his shin almost cracked. He gritted his teeth and kicked again, but this time with his left leg, the one which had been broken until a few days ago.

A powerful crack resounded in the backyard... but the sound didn't come from his leg but from the wooden log whose thin bark was now cracked.

Naruto looked in in amazement at his left leg.

"Just as I thought!"

"After my leg healed it became much sturdier than before!'

And he was right in his assumptions. After his leg healed it really became sturdier and more powerful than before. That's because it had not been healed normally... ever since he managed to unlock his chakra Naruto had felt that this mysterious energy was much more than it looked like at the first glance. He firmly believed that if he one day managed to unravel all of its secrets he could become the strongest in the world, even more than those metahumans.

Last week, while he was laying in bed bored out of his mind he suddenly thought about circulating his chakra since he didn't have anything better to do anyway. From his dantian, the warm energy began to travel through the pathways inside his body and as it moved he could feel how his body was getting invigorated. His muscles and bones acted as though they were a dried soil that was finally receiving the blessing of the rain. And then it hit him:

 _'What if I directed more of my chakra to my broken tibia?'_ \- was what he thought.

Following that thought, in no more than 4 hours all the pain in his leg disappeared completely. At first, he had been very hesitant to take off the gips cast because his doctor told him that it would take from 4 months to half a year for his tibia to fully heal. . . To think that a wound that normally took 4-6 months to heal would heal in only 4 hours? Just what kind of concept was that?

But after a few days of hesitating whether to "test" his left leg or not, he finally did it today. And he was more than happy with the result.

"My grandpa only told me that chakra can temporarily empower my body while I circulate it through the meridians of my body... maybe he was already too old for his body to accurately feel all the effects of the chakra?"

"But that doesn't make too much sense...this energy can even be used to heal wounds. Not only that, I even noticed that whenever I circulate it through my meridians, my entire body is nourished and my physical strength passively increases."

"Did he purposely hide the other effects from me?"

But he shrugged his shoulders helplessly. The old man had passed away. There was no point in making accusations towards a dead man. Instead, his mind couldn't help wondering what else could this energy residing inside him do. As a child, in the few moments when he wasn't bitterly training, Naruto used to watch anime or read manga. It was the only recreational activity he was allowed to do. And he had been a great fan of the fantasy genre where the characters had amazing superpowers.

 _'Will I eventually be able to shatter even a mountain with just one punch?'_

' _Will I be capable of conjuring flames and controlling the thunder someday?'_

 _'Will I also fly one day in the skies like the Man of Steel from Metropolis does?'_

A brilliant fire shone in his bright blue eyes and he clenched his fist trying to hold in his excitement. But as he continuously circulated his chakra, his heart became calm once again.

"For ordinary people I'm powerful... but someone like Superman could squash me like a bug... I'm still weak. Pitifully so."

"Before smashing mountains with a single punch, I have to be able to smash this log first."

"Ojisan used to say _'A ten-thousand miles trip starts with a single step!'_. As a child, I didn't understand these words back then. But now I do: looking at the peak of the mountain can make me miss the ravine from its base...There's no use in thinking about smashing mountains with a single punch. That's foolish. It's like an ant dreaming of becoming a god. I'll set myself realistic goals and then gradually surpass them one by one. I'm sure that one day I'll surely reach there!"

Having set his new goal and having gotten more resolute in his resolve to become much stronger in order to protect his sister, Naruto turned his attention back to his own body.

"Compared to grandpa who could be said to have reached a perfect grade of 10 with the Monkey Fist Kung Fu style and with his Bo staff, I'm different." Naruto said to himself.

"I'm more like a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. If I were to give myself a grade, I'd say I'm a 6 with the Monkey Fist Kung Fu... 7 with Muay Thai... an 8 with Taekwondo and a 6 with Aikido...mm not right, 5 with Aikido."

Naruto had very keen eyes and, as something that his own grandfather had instilled in him, he was very unbiased when he analysed his own skills. Therefore, his assessment of his own skills was very accurate. But looking down on these apparently average grades would be a mistake because, for example, most of the Taekwondo black belts didn't pass the grade of 7 in Naruto's eyes.

In an ordinary martial artist's eyes, Naruto could be considered a master...but after having trained his entire life together with a Kung Fu legend, Naruto's standards became different from those of normal people. While others considered Naruto to be a master of Muay Thai and Taekwondo and also very proficient with Kung Fu, Naruto didn't see himself that way. That's because he was always comparing his level of skill with that of his grandpa. And he always saw himself as lacking in comparison to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

That being said, Naruto's fighting style was extremely similar to that of those highly trained MMA fighters, it being a mixture of various martial arts. And from the 4 martial arts he was proficient with, what Naruto used the most in fights were Taekwondo's kicks and Muay Thai's elbows and knee kicks. These were some of the fastest and most lethal attacks in hand-to-hand combat.

Having these thoughts in mind, Naruto decided resolutely:

"Alright! 500 low kicks, 500 high kicks and 100 hundred spinning kicks. I'm not taking a break even if it kills me!"

 _Scene break_

Six hours later a heavily breathing Naruto was lying exhausted on the ground beside the large wooden log. His face was as white as a sheet and he looked like he had anaemia... the reason for that was that he had lost a large amount of blood.

After kicking the wooden log just a few tens of times the skin covering his tibia couldn't take the punishment anymore and raw wounds opened. But this time, knowing that concentrating the energy inside his body on the wounded place would heal it very fast, he wasn't worried at all. After just a few minutes of intense concentration, the skin tissue regenerated and his bone strengthened. However, while chakra regenerated his flesh and bones, it couldn't restore the blood that was lost in a short amount of time.

By the time Naruto finished those 1100 kicks he had lost count of how many times the flesh on his legs had been ripped off, that being the case even more than so when he started to perform variations of the "Konoha Senpuu" on the log. Every time it happened, the pain was excruciating because the shin was one of the most sensitive regions of one's body.

It was a cruel method of training and no sane person would willingly and repeatedly hurt himself like that just so he could get stronger. But from this point of view, Naruto could be considered insane. No sacrifice was too big or too painful for him if at the end of the day his sister was happy and safe. It could be said that for Naruto Misaki wasn't just his sister. She was his reason to live. Her happiness was the reason for everything he did.

When Naruto finally caught up his breath he took a better look at how the training ground looked like, in particular to the obscene amount of blood that painted the large log and its immediate vicinity.

"Oh crap! How will I explain this to Misaki-chan?"

But there was no way he was going to clean it up. He was so tired that he found it a miracle that he wasn't unconscious already. He had lost a large amount of blood and his chakra has long since been exhausted. He just wanted to sleep.

* * *

AN:

 _(Not an English native and I have no beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made)_


	5. Chapter 5 - The Challengers

AN:

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

[Hello] - Japanese language

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – The Challengers**

After waking up the next morning, unlike what Naruto was expecting, he was not feeling weak and dizzy and there was no sensation of nausea. Instead, his body was brimming with vitality.

He rose up from his bed and yawned loudly as he stretched his back. But then his nose scrunched in displeasure at the smell in the room... the smell which was, in fact, coming from him. Yesterday he had trained until he became so exhausted that he had not had the energy to at least change his clothes, let alone take a shower. He simply crawled into his room and collapsed on the cherry tree floor sleeping like a dead pig till morning. He couldn't even climb in the bed.

"At least I didn't stain the bedsheets." Naruto mumbled.

Until a month ago, while Sarutobi Hiruzen was still alive, there had been two maids that took care every day of their compound, a compound which consisted of a large dojo and a two-storey house with 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms and a living room.

Naruto's grandpa's pockets had been quite deep so while Naruto could say that his life had been rather bitter with all the arduous training, at least he had never known what poverty felt like. Furthermore, in order for his body to achieve a harmonious growth and to allow Naruto to train every day with the same intensity, his grandfather had spent a significant amount of money on healthy food and natural nutritional supplements. Moreover, Naruto and Misaki had never been asked to do any chores. It could be said that compared to most of the ordinary people in Gotham they have lived a life of luxury.

But ever since Sarutobi Hiruzen died, Naruto has begun to taste the life of ordinary people: he had to wash up his clothes by himself, clean up his room and the rest of the house as well. Nowadays he afforded to hire maids only once per week in order to do a general cleaning of the compound.

But despite that his grandpa had died, Naruto wanted for Misaki to have the same lifestyle as ever...and it was only now that he was finally learning just how much money Misaki used to spend on clothes and on her hanging-outs with her friends. After some calculations, he realized that Misaki needed around $2000 every month. And that, coupled with their other necessities such as food, internet and bills, it reached the large sum of $10000 every month.

How could a 16-year-old teenager like Naruto get this money every month? How could a 16-year-old teenager also gather another $60000 for Misaki's college tuition in a few months? - yes, Misaki was thinking about enrolling into a top-tier private university.

It was these crazy sums of money that he needed that had driven Naruto to turn to underground cage fighting.

Naruto shook his head to stop thinking about these things. If worse came to worst, Naruto had resolved himself to rob the recently "reformed" Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, formerly known as Penguin, "the gentleman of crime".

Naruto didn't believe in people being given second chances. In his mind, once a killer - always a killer. That was especially the case for the lowest scum of the society like Penguin was. Because regardless of what the public was being told, Naruto was aware of the fact that Penguin had actually bought his way out of Arkham Asylum. A few bribes here...a few threats there... there wasn't anything a wealthy and well-connected lord of crime couldn't achieve in a city like Gotham. And Naruto was fully aware of that - that's why he didn't see the point of studying...and that's why he despised the so-called superheroes like Batman, calling their activities as "playing the hero". Because whenever they caught the big bad guys, they would always get out of the prison in a month or two at most. It was like a game of the cat and the mouse, or like a dog trying to catch his own tail: pointless and never-ending.

That being said, Naruto decided that if he didn't manage to get enough money through his ordinary activities - like being a low-level mercenary or a bodyguard for VIPs at open events (such as parties) - he would "clean up" Penguin's hideout. That man had stolen enough artefacts and precious items that his secret vaults were most likely bursting with money.

Naruto rubbed at his eyes tiredly. It wasn't tiredness of the body but of the mind. He could barely wait for his sister to start college. Then, three-quarters of his worries would vanish instantly because by then he would've already gotten enough money for his sister's tuition and Misaki would have gotten out of Gotham's dangers.

 _Scene break_

After taking a shower and cleaning up his room, Naruto went to the kitchen to cook himself some food. Nothing complicated, just some pasta with sauce.

He was slowly eating, contemplating on his training from the previous day when he felt someone trying to sneak up on him. It wasn't that he had heard any noises, but constantly battling every day for more than a decade made his senses reach a frightening level of sensitivity. It was to the point that he almost developed something like a 6th sense, something that allowed one to feel anyone's presence in his vicinity.

"You still have ways to go until you'll manage to sneak up on me, Misaki-chan." Naruto suddenly said with a smile.

His sister came and plopped herself one of the chairs around the table, saying with a 'half-a-pout':

"Can't you at least pretend once that you don't hear me coming?"

"But I didn't hear you-"

"You know what I meant, smartass!" she said glaring at him.

Naruto's smile only widened when she glared at him. That look of hers coupled with her two pairs of whiskers-like birthmarks on her cheeks and her messy bed-hair made her look especially adorable.

"Stop smiling like a dunce and gimme some of that!" Misaki huffed and snatched Naruto's bowl of pasta. But he didn't mind it. It was a common occurrence for his sister to snatch his food so he cooked more. When he asked her why she always took his food when there was enough for her in the pot on the stove she would always say with a tinge of red in her cheeks "Onii-chan's food tastes better!"

Naruto put himself some pasta and sauce in another bowl and sat back at the table beside his sister.

"How come you woke up this early today, sleepy-head?" he asked knowing that she never woke up this early during weekends. And today was Saturday, just a few minutes past 6 am.

"I wanted to talk to you before you started your training." Misaki said and her playful demeanour melted into a serious expression.

Naruto stopped eating and looked at her curiously.

"I-... I know that our situation has not been the same since... you know..." she said and Naruto understood that she was talking about their grandfather's death.

"Yet despite that, you still managed somehow to keep my lifestyle the same... I don't want to be a burden for you anymore, onii-chan."

"Misaki-chan, I don't think-" Naruto tried to interrupt her to tell her that he didn't see her that way but she shushed him to stop.

"I know, I know you don't see me that way... but I do. I mean I do see myself that way. For the past month, you've done everything. Despite that I'm the older between the two of us, it is you who keeps the house clean, you're the one that makes the food and you're also the one that brings in the money."

She looked down at the glamorous polish on her nails and she bit her lower lip in distress at her own uselessness. Although most of the time she seemed like she had no care in the world, Misaki was much more perceptive than Naruto was giving her credit for. After all, she wasn't an A-straight student for nothing. Although she used to act childishly and like a spoiled girl, Misaki was very intelligent. It's just that she pretended to not know. It's thanks to how she grew up being spoiled by both her grandfather and her brother.

However, after Naruto nearly died in a fight against a metahuman two week ago, she couldn't keep her facade anymore. Sure, she loved her lifestyle and hanging out with friends, going to parties and spending a shit-ton of money on shopping sprees... but she loved her brother much more than all of that. And if her brother refrained from doing crazy things in the future in order to get money for her sake then she had no hesitation whatsoever about cutting down her expenses and start living a bit more modestly if necessary.

When she thought about how while she squandered thousands of dollars on stupid things, her brother had been fighting against criminals in a cage in order to provide her with money, the feeling of guilt burned her from inside and unknowingly tears began to drop from her eyes.

"I want to help you. I'm your sister after all... I don't want to be useless and to only burden you...Not anymore!"

The screech of the chair scraping against the floor was heard and Misaki looked up startled. Naruto rose up from his seat and came to her chair. He engulfed his big sister in a warm embrace.

"What's this bullshit about you being older? I've always taken care of you and you've always been my little sister."

He lightly bonked her on the top of her head making her yelp before saying:

"Baka."

"You're not a burden to me... taking care of you and being able to see your pretty smile every day... that's what makes me happy!"

Misaki's tears stopped and a strange feeling fluttered inside her stomach. She felt her cheeks heating up and a beet-red blush covered her entire face, extending to even her neck and ears.

"W-What are you saying all of a sudden, idiot!" she yelled at him in embarrassment but made no real effort to get herself out of his arms. Instead, she involuntarily nestled her head against his chest and closed her eyes in contentment.

 _'What did I do to deserve someone like Naruto? Had I been some sort of saint in my previous life?'_

 _'I don't think there will ever be anyone who could possibly love me as much as he does.'_ Misaki thought and she circled her arms around her brother's back in a tight embrace.

"Don't you ever worry about such things from now on, ya hear me?" Naruto said and cupped her face to make her look him in the eyes to stress better how serious he was. Unfortunately for Misaki, that only made her flush again.

"I didn't hear you answering me!" Naruto said sternly.

"Y-Yes!" she squeaked.

Naruto's face broke again into a smile and he let go of Misaki's chin to her relief and...secret disappointment.

"Alright then..." Naruto said as he took a rather thick wad of cash from his pockets. "Take this and go buy yourself the nicest dress for tomorrow's prom."

"Oh my God, but there's like thousands of-" she exclaimed wide-eyed only for Naruto to pinch her one of her whiskered cheeks.

"Yeah, yeah, enough talking, and run along!" Naruto said in a fake stern voice.

Misaki squealed in joy and from her seat she jumped right onto Naruto, hugging him for all he was worth. After that she dashed out of the kitchen with an excited look on her face, making a bee-line towards her room to call her best friend, Barbara Gordon. The two of them had some serious shopping to do!

Naruto chuckled in amusement thinking that if someone didn't know his and Misaki's real age, they would be sorely mistaken in trying to guess who was the older sibling between the two of them.

 _Scene break_

[Is it here? What do you say, Lee?] a middle-aged man's powerful voice resounded across the street. It wasn't like he was purposely shouting, it was just how he normally talked.

[I don't understand the writing of this country either, sensei. These letters make no sense to me.]

Wearing skin-tight forest-green jumpsuits with red belts around their waists and orange-stripped leg warmers, two men were standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

With the emergence of the superheroes all over the world and after the rise of the Justice League, the general public stopped twitching at the sight of people wearing weird clothes... after all, two of the strongest heroes on Earth were dressed that way: Superman wore his underwear above tights of all things and Wonder Woman who was supposed to be a warrior princess was dressing like a hooker.

That being said, people didn't raise an eyebrow at their choice or clothing. However, there was something that creeped everyone out when they took in the other aspects of their appearance: both the middle-aged man and the teenager beside him had bowl-cut shaped shiny black hair, round eyes and a pair of very bushy eyebrows. The worst thing was that it was obvious for everyone the younger of the two was doing his best to resemble a clone of the older man.

"Mommy, why are those two people dressed like that?" a very young girl asked innocently.

"They're dangerous people, honey, stop looking at them." the mother said as she covered her daughter's eyes and rapidly distanced herself from the scene.

However, while the passers-by all made a scene at the sight of two Japanese people loudly talking to each other in their native language in the middle of the sidewalk, two red-haired girls were unknowingly heading towards them. The two young women were happily chatting with each other while carrying two shopping bags each in their hands.

Misaki Uzumaki and Barbara Gordon were enthusiastically talking about how great the prom from tomorrow was going to be. It was the end of the high school and while it wasn't a common occurrence, this time all the 12th-grade students had decided to end the high school with a bang.

The son of the vice-mayor of Gotham had offered to host the prom on one of his father's boats. It was a large 5-star luxury yacht, one which most of the ordinary people of Gotham would never have the chance to see up close, let alone party in it. So it goes without saying how excited everyone was! For one night, the high school graduates would have the chance to experience the life of a filthy rich man! For a brief moment, they would be allowed to taste the sweetness of the so-called American Dream.

All of a sudden Misaki stopped her chattering when a few Japanese words reached her ears.

[What should we do, Guy-sensei? At this pace, we'll never find Chinatown. Gotham is simply too large of a city.]

[Do not fret, Lee! The power of Youth has never failed us yet!]

Misaki turned towards Barbara with a difficult expression on her cute face.

"You want to help them, don't you? Barbara asked in a condescending tone. "Seriously, don't you have any fear? What sane girl in Gotham voluntarily approaches two very weird-looking men by herself? What if they prove to be dangerous? What if the kidnap you and sell you as a sex-"

"Alright, Alright calm down, hothead!" Misaki hurriedly said before her friend began to get too much into the rant.

"But still, I can at least show them where is the Chinatown district... it's not like they're going to do something suspicious in the middle of so many people, right?"

In the end, Barbara had to agree with her. But that didn't mean she was happy about it. She knew that Misaki was often being careless and that was ultimately her brother's fault. Naruto had violently beaten anyone that touched as much as a hair of Misaki that no-one dared to have any thoughts about her in Gotham. And while Naruto's threats kept at bay all the small fries, it was Sarutobi Hiruzen that made the overlords of crime in Gotham also be afraid of doing anything against the Uzumaki siblings. Because of that, Misaki got used to the idea that no-one would ever have the courage to harm her while having her big bad wolf of a brother protecting her. However, Misaki's grandpa was now dead...and Naruto was not a deterrent powerful enough to assure the same level of protection to his sister like his grandpa could. The big fish in the pond called Gotham were not afraid of a mere teenager.

Barbara shook her thoughts and walked alongside Misaki. If worse came to worst she would call her father and in less than 5 minutes the entire area would be flooded with cops.

[Hello, mister, are you looking for Chinatown district?] Misaki said rather unsure of her Japanese. Although her grandfather had taught Naruto and her how to speak Japanese, they didn't use it in their daily life. They have lived for their entire lives in the United States, they mostly used English.

When the two men heard her sweet voice and turned their heads towards her they were dumbfounded. The teenager's face especially had become a hot shade of red and even the older one was a bit flustered. They have never seen someone as attractive as Misaki in their entire lives. With waist-length crimson-red hair, creamy white skin, large baby-blue eyes and two pairs of whiskers on her cheeks, Misaki was the very definition of exotic beauty. Her rather skimpy outfit consisting of only a pair of jeans shorts and a baggy shirt which exposed her toned midriff did nothing to ease the visual impact she made on them.

The middle-aged man gulped loudly but then he regained his calm and his state of mind became clear once again. This man had very powerful self-control.

[Thank you for your help, miss. Would you be kind enough to show us the way toward "The Monkey King's Dojo?". I would be very grateful!] the middle-aged man said in his loud, boisterous voice and bowed deeply.

Misaki was very surprised at the older man's words. She didn't recall Naruto telling her that anyone was going to come to their dojo today.

[It so happens that the owner of the dojo is an acquaintance of mine. If you don't mind me asking, what business do you have there?] Misaki asked carefully.

The middle-aged man grinned brightly and adopted a "Mr. Nice Guy" pose with his thumb up as he said confidently.

[We're going to challenge it!]

* * *

AN:

 _(Not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	6. Chapter 6 - Breakthrough

AN:

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello' -_ thoughts

[Hello] - Japanese language

* * *

 **Chapter 6 – Breakthrough**

 _Yesterday noon, a bank robbery in Metropolis was stopped by the intervention of two superheroes: Superman and the Flash. The robbers had taken hostages but the Flash is not known as the fastest man alive for nothing. Before the robbers had the chance to even blink [...]_

The sound of someone changing the TV channel in a frustrated manner was heard and something else was displayed.

 _The insane psychopath known as "The Joker" broke out of Arkham Asylum yesterday night. According to Jeremiah Arkham, the administrator of the asylum, the Joker had managed to break out with the help of one of the staff members, Dr. Harleen Quinzel. In regards to his subordinate's betrayal, Jeremiah Arkham declared that [...]_

Naruto changed the channel again while shaking his head in apathy. That's what he despised the most about superheroes - their stupidity.

 _'A rabid dog cannot be cured. When you see a rabid dog, you don't catch it and try to make it behave by putting it in a leash. When you see a rabid dog you fucking kill it.'_

Naruto's train of thoughts was interrupted by the boisterous voice coming from the TV.

 _Hello people! Today we're going to hold the most anticipated poll of the last 2 years! Even the USA president's elections have never reached this popularity! The question we all wonder is: "Who is the sexiest female superhero in the world?" There are 20 contestants: first, we have the Amazonian Princess, Wonder Woman! Second, none other than the Man of Steel's very cousin, Supergirl! Third, one of the most loved performers on a scene in the world - Zatanna Zatara! Fourth, the [...]_

The sound of the remote control's buttons being violently pressed was heard again and the TV channel was changed.

 _Today, at "Superheroes' Love" we're going to discuss Gotham's Dark Knight's suspicious interactions with [...]_

The channel was changed again.

 _General Danzo, what is the army's position in regards to the Justice League? What are your personal views in regards to [...]_

The channel was changed once again.

 _What colour did Supergirl's panties have today? Was it [...]_

All of a sudden, the remote control pierced through the large and flat screen of the TV and an exasperated yell was heard.

"The fuck is wrong with all the Americans?!"

It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon and Naruto had just managed to take a shower and change his clothes after the gruelling training session that he had pushed himself through. While yesterday he had worked on strengthening his tibia, today he has pushed the durability of his knees to the limit. Even with his chakra's healing ability, Naruto's knees were shaking like crazy and the muscles of his legs were contracting and relaxing and then contracting again without him doing anything.

Naruto had heard before about an extremely famous Muay Thai practitioner who was said to be able to shatter walls and destroy concrete columns with his knee kicks...and today, while he had been trying to snap the wooden log with his knee kicks, he couldn't help wondering in disbelief - _'How the hell did he do that?!'._

Naruto had the healing and the strengthening effect of his chakra and it still felt like his knees would shatter at every kick. Yet that Indonesian martial artist could break concrete columns while having just the constitution of an athletic but still ordinary human. It was mind-boggling.

That being said, after training Naruto went to the living room and plopped himself on the sofa as stiff as a puppet whose strings had been cut. And to pass the time easier he decided to watch the TV for a while... only to see that no matter the channel there just had to be a TV show concerning superheroes. Some were hailing them as God's gift to humanity, others were slandering them while others were openly lusting after their bodies. The point is that it was as though nothing else existed in the world aside from them.

Naruto sighed and rubbed his temples to calm down his heart. His grandfather had always told him that a martial artist's life goal is to reach the harmony of the body and the mind. A martial artist had to never let himself be controlled by his emotions.

Naruto grunted in pain and with great difficulty, he somehow managed to sit in a crossed-legged meditative posture. He closed his eyes in contemplation and his breathing became even and soft as he recalled his grandfather's words.

 _Flashback_

 _"You can become an excellent martial artist by channelling your emotions. Emotions are powerful and the drive behind them can transform someone just like how the carp passing through the dragon gate is said to become a dragon. However, the one that lets himself being led by those emotions will never become a master. A powerful martial artist, yes...but he will never reach the pinnacle. He will forever be stuck at a bottleneck . . . And that is because before mastering a martial art you have to master, to conquer, your own heart first."_

 _"What does it mean to conquer my own heart?" a 10-year-old Naruto asked innocently with his cute face scrunched in confusion._

 _"To conquer your heart means to conquer your emotions. To not let yourself become clouded by them and act on impulse." the old man Sarutobi said._

 _The young Naruto's blue eyes blinked owlishly and he said a bit deflated at his lack of ability to comprehend his grandpa's words:_

" _I still don't really understand.."_

 _However, his grandfather didn't get mad. He didn't expect in the first place for his grandson who was only 10 years old to directly understand his words. There were even grown-up men who wouldn't be able to, let alone a child like him. Therefore, he tried to explain better, with no signs of impatience._

 _"Ne, Naruto, have you ever watched on TV how lions hunt antelopes?"_

 _"Hai!"_

 _"Then, can you tell me, how many lions are usually in a pack and how many antelopes are in a herd?"_

 _Naruto's face frowned cutely in thought for a few seconds before saying:_

 _"Antelopes are very many. Like over a hundred. No, even more!" young Naruto said. "But lions are usually only around 10 or 15."_

 _"Bravo." the old man commended and lightly patted his grandson's head. "Now tell me, Naruto. If all those hundreds of antelopes were to fight against the lions all at the same time, who would win?"_

 _Young Naruto shouted even before his grandpa's words ended:_

 _"The lions!"_

 _But his grandpa flicked his forehead._

 _"Ouch!"_

 _"Don't 'ouch' me! Think before you speak!" Sarutobi said sternly and then he continued: "Do lions ever get hurt when they hunt antelopes?"_

 _Naruto nodded his head._

 _"Yes, when the antelope tries to defend itself sometimes the lion gets hurt by its horns."_

 _"Very well then. Now close your eyes and try to picture in your mind how would it be if those hundreds of antelopes were to charge with their horns first into the pack of lions?"_

 _Naruto's eyes stood shut tightly for a few seconds but then his mouth opened wide._

 _"None of the lions would survive!" Naruto exclaimed and the usually stern old man allowed a smile to surface on his face. He took a seat beside his grandson and asked again, trying to make Naruto reach the conclusion by himself:_

 _"Then why don't they do that?"_

 _Naruto answered after a brief hesitation:_

 _"B-Because they're afraid? I mean they will kill the lions but probably many of them will die too."_

 _"That's exactly the reason!" Sarutobi exclaimed extremely pleased at his grandson's sharpness and ruffled his blonde locks of hair._

 _"You see, because of their cowardice, the antelopes never mustered the courage to fight back. They could wipe out the lions in that territory but they're too afraid to do that. Sure, some of them will die in the process, but for many years even after their deaths their offspring will live in safety."_

 _"But antelopes are controlled by their fear. Likewise, if a martial artist lets his fear control him he will never succeed in anything. Or if he gets angry and acts on his anger he might get killed instead because when you're angry you cannot think clearly."_

 _"That is the reason why you need to learn to control your emotions. Sure, it is normal to be afraid...but do not fall in panic. Instead, use that fear to sharpen your senses and devise a cautious plan to succeed. It is also normal to get angry...but don't become enraged. Use that anger to train even more bitterly..."_

 _"...and if you'll ever want to get revenge on someone, don't do it when you're angry. Let a day or two to pass. Let even a month pass. Even a year if it is necessary for you to calm down your heart...and only then you should go to kill him. Because when you're angry you can't think. You could fall into your enemy's trap and die."_

 _"You could say that your emotions, that your heart is like a Monkey King: very powerful and rebellious. The Monkey King is not afraid even of the lion and when it rampages, the entire jungle becomes restless and all the living beings run from its path."_

 _"However...how would it be if you managed to tame the Monkey King? What would you be unable to do after that anymore?"_

 _Flashback end_

Unknowingly, as he pondered on these words, Naruto has spent two entire hours in meditation. But to him, it felt as if only half a minute passed. He instinctively groaned when he changed the position of his legs, but then he was stupefied: his previously quivering muscles and aching bones were completely healed! He was actually feeling no pain anymore!

"But how is this possible? By the time I finished my training my entire chakra was exhausted! How could I heal so fast?!"

Naruto suddenly went still. A faint thudding sound was coming from his torso...and it wasn't from his heartbeats.

"W-What the...!"

He closed his eyes but the next moment they opened wide in surprise. Inside his body, in his dantian, something had been born. Whereas before his chakra simply laid there like the still water of the lake, in the complete darkness of the dantian's inner world, now, a blue ethereal organ was shining. It was a heart. His entire chakra had coalesced into the shape of a heart that was continuously pulsating, not unlike the heart of an ordinary human body.

Naruto closed his eyes again, focusing intensely on sensing the changes in his body. And he 'saw' that from his chakra heart, 6 large chakra pathways went to the most important 6 parts of his body: the arms, the legs, the brain and the heart. From these 6 main pathways, countless ramifications were spread throughout the entirety of his body, linking each inch of his flesh to the chakra heart.

However, as the ethereal heart from his dantian pumped chakra, Naruto realized that amongst all those countless chakra pathways, the chakra circulated only through one of the 6 main pathways, the one leading to his left arm. It was as though all the other ones were clogged up.

Naruto opened his eyes. He had a feeling that cleaning open the clogged pathways wouldn't be easy at all. However, he wanted to see first what the changes in his body meant to his overall strength. He went in the backyard to the large wooden log. His chakra heart began to pump rapidly and the chakra rushed through the opened pathway into his right arm.

While letting a yell Naruto punched the large wooden log.

 _*boom*_

An explosion occurred. The upper part of the log that was so thick that a man couldn't fully embrace it with his arms was blown into smithereens!

Naruto stared dumbly at the sight in front of his eyes. He was shocked to the point that he was getting dizzy.

"W-What the...?!"

He couldn't believe that in less than 3 hours his body has experienced such an enormous increase in strength. And when he punched the log he didn't use his full strength! Previously he could crack the asphalt with a kick at the expense of the entire chakra inside his body... but now, after throwing that chakra powered punch, Naruto felt that the amount of chakra inside his body had not dwindled at all.

He was trembling. But it wasn't because of pain - there wasn't even a scratch on his fist. It was excitement.

 _Scene break_

While Naruto was crazy with excitement over his feat the two men whom Misaki had encountered before have arrived together with her at the dojo.

Two massive wooden gates stood in front of them and written with red Japanese characters on them was [The Monkey King's Dojo].

Since Sarutobi Hiruzen's passing away, the gates of the Dojo have always been locked up, Naruto opening them only when he or Misaki left the compound or when they came back. They weren't being opened wide all day long like before.

Misaki pressed the button of the doorbell and waited. Half a minute passed but no answer came. She pressed the button again, but like before, Naruto didn't come. In fact, he hadn't even heard the ringing of the doorbell, he was too immersed in his excitement.

All of a sudden the older of the two men who wanted to challenge the dojo plunged towards the massive wooden gates of the dojo while shouting out loud:

[Dynamic Entry!]

Misaki was stupefied.

 _'Is he an idiot?!'_

But her attitude did a 180 degrees turn when with a loud bang the gates were blown away by the ferocious flying kick of the middle-aged man. The gates themselves weren't destroyed but the hinges holding them were.

The loud noise created by the large gates crashing into the courtyard startled Naruto from his thoughts and he rushed towards the entrance of the compound. He didn't even try to understand the situation or ask for the identity of the one that had blown away the gates because nobody would break so violently into someone's home if he came with friendly intentions.

Therefore, just as the middle-aged man came into his view, Naruto dashed at him. His chakra rushed into his left arm and he punched explosively towards the intruder. The force behind Naruto's fist was so powerful that the middle-aged man was sent plummeting backwards like a rocket, slamming heavily into the building across the street.

[Guy-sensei!] the teenager standing beside Misaki cried out in worry.

But the middle-aged man picked himself from the ground and stretched his sore back. A series of popping noises were heard from his spine and a serious expression appeared on his face.

 _'What monstrous strength!'_

Guy was not the only one shocked, Naruto was just as surprised as him.

 _'With my new strength, I can easily shatter concrete walls and break wooden logs. What are his bones made of?!'_ Naruto thought in disbelief when he saw how Guy shrugged off his attack as if it was nothing. But if Naruto had paid closer attention he would have noticed that Guy's left forearm, the one that he had used to block his punch, was shaking.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto shouted.

* * *

AN:

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	7. Chapter 7 - What started it all

AN:

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

[Hello] - Japanese language

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – What started it all**

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto shouted.

The man called Guy frowned. He didn't understand the blonde teenager's shouted in English words but he detected the hostility in his voice.

When his shout was met with silence, Naruto's looked at the other person who rushed towards the middle-aged man...and then his eyes fell on his little sister. His eyes flashed coldly and a fierce killing intent erupted from him as he asked:

"Misaki, did these two creeps hurt you? I'll rip their fucking hearts outta their fucking chest if they as much as touched one of your hairs!"

But Misaki was petrified in fear at the hostility Naruto unconsciously released. Misaki had never witnessed her brother ever getting this angry before as he had always avoided being violent in front of her eyes. Misaki had not really understood until this moment how could all the students in their school be so terrified of her sweet and caring brother.

"N-No, I-I'm fine!" Misaki fearfully said.

Hearing his sisters trembling voice, Naruto finally realized that he was frightening her. He circulated his chakra forcing himself to calm down. He stepped in front of Misaki and hid her behind his back while asking Guy calmly this time but with no less amount of hostility in his voice.

"Who are you? What is your business here?"

Although the middle-aged man didn't understand the English words he heard, he could guess their meaning. He straightened his posture and with a courteous bow, he said:

[My name is Maito Guy, master of the Gokken style. I'm here to challenge the Monkey King to prove everyone which is the strongest Kung Fu style in the world!]

 _Scene break_

As if they hadn't been at each other's throats just a while ago, the Uzumaki siblings and their uninvited guests were seated at a table, drinking coffee and discussing.

[What do you mean the Monkey King is dead?!] Maito Guy yelled in disbelief.

Although his Japanese was a bit rusty, Naruto could still make himself understood:

[Just as I told you. Two months ago, ojisan left for a trip to an old acquaintance of his...only for a month later to return home...in a box.]

Naruto's face scrunched into a frown.

[The police, like usual, was fucking useless. The didn't know anything besides that fact that he had been shot in the back of his head...but that much even an idiot could see.]

A momentary silence instilled in the room. Everyone seemed to have fallen deep into their thoughts.

[It would be unfair for you if a senior like me were to challenge you instead of your grandfather.] Maito Guy said eventually [However, Lee and I have come all the way from Japan specifically to face powerful opponents and train our body and spirit. To leave just like that would be a great waste... So what do you say? If I can't compete against the Moneky King directly, I will through my disciple! How about it?]

Naruto thought for a brief moment.

[My style does not resemble my grandfather's. I'm more like a mixed martial artist, so this fight would be meaningless as your Gokken style would not face off against Monkey Fist Kung Fu.] Naruto said before adding as an afterthought [Besides...I have a habit of not holding back.]

These last words were like a slap on Lee's face. Naruto basically implied that he doesn't want to spar with Lee because he's too weak for him and might get hurt.

And Rock Lee's reaction came immediately, his pride as a martial artist flaring:

[Yosh! I'm going to fight you with my entire strength! I'll win this even if my legs break in the process! And if I don't defeat you, I'll run 20 laps around Gotham...on my hands!] he yelled and Naruto had the impression for a moment there that flames came out of Lee's eyes. This type of determination was something that Naruto greatly admired. No-one ever gets to the top without an iron will and an unshakeable determination.

[...Alright. But before that, your sensei there will buy new hinges and fix the gates he had smashed through and I will also get some sleep. I have already had an intense training session today.]

Both Guy and Lee became like two deflated balloons at Naruto's words.

 _Scene break_

 _Trees towering at hundreds of feet in height covered the entire horizon. A young boy, younger than 7, was perched on the highest bough of one of the larger trees of this ancient-looking forest._

 _A hint of worry and fear was flickering in his innocent and large blue eyes. The surprising thing is that it wasn't the enormous height of hundreds of feet that worried him, nor was the thought of falling from there frightening him. There was another reason for that._

 _"I got lost again." the boy mumbled._

 _From the top of the huge tree everything in sight was an ocean of green. There was no sign of the mountain where his village was built._

 _As the boy said, it was not the first time he got lost. It happened quite often in fact. But the reason behind that was heart-wrenching: as an orphan, there wasn't anyone to take care of him. He didn't even have someone to call "auntie" or "big brother". How would he fend for himself? How would he even get the food he needed in order to no starve? The boy had tried stealing at first but after a few mean beatings, he felt forced to stop...and given his age he couldn't work as anything. The only thing left was for him to hunt. Him, a 7-year-old boy._

 _It didn't happen just once for him to return home with his stomach empty after a whole day of fruitlessly chasing some small game. And today was a particularly bad day - not only he failed to catch the rabbit he had been chasing, but he had also gotten lost._

 _The boy heard his stomach growl loudly._

 _"Oww!" he said and crouched with hands on his stomach in pain. The hunger he felt was so big that it was already painful._

 _A few moments passed and the pain in his stomach faded till it became like a dull throb at the back of his mind. Again, it wasn't the first time he felt that - by now he had gotten used to the pain that came with the feeling of hunger._

 _The boy sat on the bough on his butt and let his feet dangle. He propped his elbows on his knees and he buried his face in his hands._

 _While other children his age were playing ninja in the park and made stone-throwing contests he had to fight everyday to his limits to even find something to eat. While other children's problems were not having enough time to play, his problem was surviving from one day to another. Loneliness had matured his mind beyond his years._

'Why is life so unfair?' _the little boy thought._

 _Between the small fingers that were covering his face, tears began to leak._

 _"Kuso!" the boy cursed. It was something he heard the villages say many times when they saw him. He began to do that as well whenever he saw them or when he felt sad or angry. It somehow made him feel a bit better._

 _He wiped the tears on his face with the sleeve of his dirty black shirt and lightly slapped both of his cheeks at the same time._

 _"Man up! Are you a girl, or what?"_

 _"You're a very interesting brat." The hoarse voice of a male was suddenly heard and the boy screamed in fright, never having expected someone else to suddenly appear beside him at the top of the tree and that without even seeing him. The boy was startled so bad that he actually jumped!_

 _"Aaaargh!"_

 _The boy screamed in a panic - he was falling from a height of over 300 feet!_

 _But right before he was about to hit one of the large lower branches of the tree, a rather thin yet very powerful arm caught him safely from his waist._

 _Looking up at the one who saved him the little boy felt stumped. It was a very short and very old man with a wrinkled face and a skinny frame that was holding him tightly. He was dressed in white and red robes and a white hat with the kanji for fire inscribed on it with red was dangling from his other hand._

Naruto suddenly awoke with a start. His clothes and the bedsheets were dripping with his sweat and he felt sticky all over his body.

"What the hell was that?!" Naruto asked himself when his crazily beating heart calmed a little. It was the weirdest dream he had ever had. It felt so real that after he actually woke up, for a few good minutes, he was still finding it hard to believe that he didn't almost die. Because in the dream everything he had experienced had been from the little boy's perspective. Naruto had actually felt the painful hunger of the boy and his worry at not finding his way back home. Naruto had felt his great sadness and the boy's tears had felt like they had been his own tears as well! It was as though the boy was actually him!

Naruto was so overwhelmed by the dream that he couldn't sleep anymore for the rest of the night. What was daunting him even more was that it was his own grandpa that caught the little boy at the end.

 _Scene break_

"Listen to me, Misaki, no matter who is he, if there is anyone bothering you, call me!"

"Yeah, yeah." Misaki said with a dull voice making Naruto want to bonk her head.

"Listen to me, Misaki, I'm serious. This time is important...a few hundred teenagers will be on two yachts in the middle of the sea...after a few drinks many things can happen. Promise me you'll keep this phone at you!"

"Yes, yes, I promise!" Misaki said this time seriously. Although Naruto was sometimes nagging her as if he were her father, she understood that he only wished her safety and happiness. He had proved that to her countless time since they were little until now.

"Truth being told, I'm rather good looking, don't you think so?" Misaki asked with a sly look in her eyes and made a twirl in front of the mirror.

"Of course you are." Naruto said with a smile but Misako pouted.

"You're sooo boring! You were supposed to get flustered or at least praise me like you mean it!"

"Why would I get flustered, dumbo? I'm your brother."

Misaki's face became an interesting shade of red as she yelled:

"You're the idiot, idiot!"

Naruto laughed at her.

"Oh. Ok then. Laugh all you want!" Misaki said in a sullen voice and with her arms crossed.

Naruto's smile only widened at how childish his big sister was acting. It made him want to ruffle her hair and pinch her cheeks...but he would probably not be allowed to sleep for a week if he did that right now. That's because in half an hour a limousine would come and take Misaki to the docks where the yachts were. And since it was the prom, like any other girl, she had dolled herself up quite a bit.

"Alright, alright!" Naruto conceded. "You're stunningly beautiful! I'm sure you'll eclipse any other girl at the prom!"

"I'm almost envying the guys who'll get to dance with you tonight! By the way, if any of them's hands start exploring-"

"I know, I'll kick them in the nuts!" Misaki cut in.

The two of them looked at each other for a second before both burst into laughter at the same time.

"You know, you don't need to be envious of the guys who'll dance with me tonight... you could dance with me right now!"

"Oh please, you know very well that dancing and I have nothing in common." Naruto said.

"Come on, how many times will I ever get to dress like that? Besides, you should be the first guy to have asked me for a dance."

"But you were the one that as-" Naruto retorted.

"It doesn't matter! Now. Come. On!" Misaki insisted.

"Nope!"

"Pretty please?"

"Still no."

"Hmpf! Fine, be like that!" Misaki huffed in annoyance before her face was lit up by a brilliant smile.

"You don't want to dance, but at least you won't get away from taking photos with me!"

Before Naruto could even get the chance to voice his opinion, Misaki came and hugged him from behind. She handed him the phone before saying sternly:

"Selfie! Now!"

Twenty minutes later the two of them took over 50 photos together. Misaki was currently transferring the photos to Naruto via Bluetooth to have them on his phone as well.

In no time, the doorbell rang - the limousine had arrived.

Misaki jumped up to her feet and grabbed her purse before checking herself in the mirror one more time.

"How do I look?" she asked Naruto for the last time.

Misaki's dress showed a rather small amount of skin. She was wearing an elegant black siren dress with a cleavage that wasn't too deep and the slit of the dress started from a bit lower than her mid-thigh. But Misaki was one of those girls that could turn heads without there being a need to get naked. Because while the dress didn't show too much skin, it definitely outlined her curves brilliantly. And since Misaki had always worked hard to keep herself fit, her hourglass figure truly was a sight to behold.

Misaki's brilliant crimson hair was styled into a waterfall braid and she wore a pair of golden high heels. Naruto didn't exaggerate when he said that she would eclipse any other girl at the prom.

"Yes, you look perfect! Had you not been my sister I would have already fallen for you." Naruto laughed.

"Oh stop it!" Misaki yelled when she heard his corny compliment. However, Naruto knew that she was secretly elated.

"Gotta go now!" Misaki said but before leaving she hugged Naruto one more time and kissed him on the cheek, taking him by surprise.

"Ok, go now and have fun!" Naruto smiled and waved his hand in good-bye.

 _Scene break_

Naruto was bored. Misaki left around 4 pm and it was now 7 o'clock in the evening. He had already trained in the morning and he had no job for the night. The Guy and Lee duo were at a hotel - he had postponed their little contest after Misaki's prom - and on TV there was also nothing interesting to see. He was changing the channels mindlessly not really paying attention to what he was watching.

But suddenly the transmission was lost on every channel he changed and, for a moment, only a black screen could be seen. Then, something else appeared.

Green hair, a wildly smiling face grossly covered with a thick layer of white powder, two rows of yellow teeth and a pair of red lipstick-covered lips. It was the unmistakable face of a clown.

 _"Ah, ah, aaah! Don't touch that remote! I know it's heart-breaking to have your favourite TV shows preempted, but look at what you're getting instead: ME! ...and a whole truckload of mindless violence and propriety damage! Everything that makes TV great!_ " the laughing voice of the Joker sounded as he gesticulated animatedly.

But then the Joker's laughing face turned dead-serious in an instant:

 _"So stay tuned. You will have the once in a lifetime chance to see what is the true nature of humans!"_

 _"Some of you may know, some of you may not, but, tonight, the graduates of Gotham County High School are having their prom. While so many of you are eating cheap burgers for a living, these rich kids are going to spend the night on two 5-stars luxury yachts."_

 _"...but that's beside the point, isn't it? Haha!"_

The Joker's face suddenly came very close to the camera and his voice took an eerie tone:

 _"They say I'm crazy... but I'm not."_ He licked his lips as he said again: _"I'm not crazy. I'm just not hiding my true self."_

 _"All of you and especially the self-righteous Justice League are just wolves wearing sheepskin."_

The Joker's voice became a whisper, a whisper that was sending chills down everyone's spine:

 _"Humans are inherently evil. If it weren't for the laws keeping you chained, you'd all be stealing, killing and raping... Although you don't want to admit it, deep down inside you all hate someone...you envy the wealthy and you lust for what's not yours. It's only fear that makes you behave."_

The Joker continued whispering but this time he said with a laugh:

 _"Humans are evil. You are evil. You are even more evil than I am... you don't believe me?"_

He suddenly shouted:

 _"I'll prove it to you in like..._ " the Joker checked out the time on his golden wristwatch _"...12 minutes!"_

 _"You see, I may have planted two bombs...one in each of the luxury yachts, so it would be fair. And you know what's the best part of the joke?"_

 _"That it isn't me who's going to blow them up!"_

 _"Huehuehue!"_

The Joker seemed to have found his own joke overly hilarious because he couldn't stop his hysterical laughter.

 _"I know you are watching me...yes, I'm talking to you, the ones on the boards of the yachts. See this remote?"_

A black remote with a big red button magically appeared in the Joker's gloved hand.

 _"In 10 minutes I will press this button and BOOM!"_ he yelled the last word. _"You will all be blown to smithereens...unless... unless you make a choice!"_

 _"In each of the two yachts, in the captain's cabin, there is a remote similar to the one from my hand. The only difference is that while my remote will detonate both bombs at the same time, your remotes can only detonate one bomb: the bomb from the other yacht."_

 _"So you have two choices:"_ the Joker said and then he lifted one finger in the air:

 _"1. Press the button and the people on the other yacht will die but you'll get to live."_

Raising another finger he continued:

 _"And 2: Don't press the button and die."_

 _"So what is gonna be? Will you kill the other ones in order to survive, or will rather choose to die instead of taking away someone else's life?"_

 _"It's your call!"_

 _"And remember, not only is the clock ticking...but what if one side instantly pressed the button in an act of desperation? You wouldn't even get the chance to make a choice anymore!"_

 _"Hahahah!"_

 _"Huehuehue!"_

* * *

AN: The title of the chapter is spot on - Naruto's dream was not just a simple dream...and it won't be the only one from now on. This series of dreams and the Joker's appearance could be said to mark the end of the Exposition and the start of the Rising Action. These two things in this chapter will have a great and lasting impact on Naruto's future character development. Stay tuned.

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	8. Chapter 8 - (spoiler)

AN:

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 8 - (look at the end if you want to be spoiled)**

A dark side alley in Gotham City. Heaps of garbage were laying around and the dim light of the lampposts barely reached there. A girl's shouts and pleas of help suddenly broke the relative silence of the night.

"Help!"

"Please no! I'm begging you!"

"Someone! Please help me!"

But it was in vain. This kind of scenes was not exactly uncommon in Gotham. And even if someone were to hear her voice, he wouldn't interfere. People knew better than trying to help others because the criminal organizations were too strong in Gotham and because the situation was too chaotic - getting involved into something like this was synonymous to asking for death.

"Oy, idiot, I told you to stuff her mouth with a rag or something!" the hoarse voice of a male was heard and his partner hurriedly forced a dirty rag into the girl's mouth to muffle her screams.

"Hold her hands. Once I'm done with her you'll get your turn too." the male that seemed like the leader said with a lecherous grin and began to unbuckle his belt.

The girl struggled desperately but she was no match for the one that was holding her arms. The aggressor pulled his pants down and then, a sound of clothes being ripped was heard. But just as he was about to get going with what he was about to do, startlingly loud sounds of metal cans hitting the asphalt came from the heaps of garbage laying around.

For a second, the two rapists stopped in their tracks as though they were petrified.

"Who's the bastard hiding in there! Come out!" the older of the two male yelled in an aggressive voice.

*swish*

A tiny slab of concrete cut through the air at a high speed and hit the male that had just yelled right in the head.

"You're noisy!" sounded the tired and rather raspy voice of a teenager. "I don't care what you're doing with that bitch. Rape her, kill her, do whatever the fuck you want. But do it elsewhere. You're too damn noisy."

The older man was enraged. The skin of his head was now slit and he was bleeding profusely. He was even angrier since he couldn't see the figure of the one that had thrown the tiny slab of concrete at him.

"You fucker! I'll kill you! Get the fuck out here if you have the balls!"

No sooner than his words ended a brick was thrown at such a high velocity that the man didn't even see it...It happened in an instant: the man was just making threats but one second later the brick collided into his head, blowing it into a bloody and gory paste. One man was murdered right then and there.

His partner was stunned for a brief moment but then he broke into a run screaming in horror at what he had just witnessed, his desire to rape the girl they had captured being completely erased from his mind.

The girl herself was shocked to the point that she fainted straight away when the geyser of blood from the man's head splattered all over her naked body.

When the silence instilled once again, the teenager sat back on the heaps of garbage and laid the back of his head on the wall of one of the buildings encasing the alley.

Two joints were burning in his hands and he was puffing from them, inhaling the narcotic smoke deeply.

"Fuck!"

He cursed and threw the joints away in apathy. It was already bad that he had to smoke up to 5 whole joints in one go for the effects of the drug to show up, but now that he killed one of the two men that had tried to rape that girl right in front of him, his mood was completely ruined. He wouldn't get high even if he smoked 30 cigars.

The teenager sat up to his feet again and began to walk slowly towards the main avenue, not caring in the least about what was going to happen with the naked and unconscious girl in the dark alley. As he strolled through the streets he happened to look into the windows of the shops he was passing by. The hood on his head obscured most of his facial features but the whisker-like birthmarks were still visible at the light of the lampposts.

It was Naruto.

He pulled his hood down and looked at his reflection... he was having a hard time recognizing himself.

Dressed in a pair of dirty black pants and a stained dark red hoodie, he looked just like any other ordinary homeless guy. However, his facial features would tell anyone that he was lower than that. His complexion was as white as a sheet, his cheeks sunken and his bloodshot and glazed eyes were a far cry from his once clear, baby-blue eyes. Dark bags were under his eyes and his once sun-kissed blonde hair had lost its lustre and it was longer, falling down to his shoulders in a dirty and tangled mess. He looked just like a drug addict.

Four months have passed since that terrible day when the joker hacked into the television channels and showed everyone his newest "joke".

Four months filled with utter despair and rage for Naruto.

That was because his sister Misaki was no more. The Joker's words still resounded into his ears: _'Humans are inherently evil. You are evil...'_

And true to the Joker's predictions, when facing death, humans' true nature came out. Only 3 minutes passed since the Joker started the countdown and one of the yachts was blown into smithereens. The people on the other yacht pressed the button... and Misaki was also on the board of the yacht that exploded.

However, the Joker's biggest joke was that he didn't abide his words... he pressed the button of his own remote control, making the last yacht explode as well. Everyone died... Over 300 hundred people were murdered that day... and no survivors were found.

Following that day, Naruto lost himself to his rage and despair. He didn't even have on whom to vent it because the Joker was apprehended by Gotham's "Superhero" before Naruto had the chance to get him and the ones that pushed the button to make the other yacht explode have been killed by the Joker as well.

And so it began...his descent to hell. He couldn't sleep anymore as nightmares tortured him every night. Every time he closed his eyes, happy memories of his sister played in his mind, only for them to get distorted and end with her dying in various manners...with most of the time being in an explosion. Naruto was witnessing his sister dying every time he slept!

In his desperation, he turned to drugs. But because of his chakra, their effect on him was greatly diminished. Because of that, soon, Naruto lost everything he owned in order to buy drugs. He began to live on the streets and sleep at the same place with the stray dogs. But even when he was high to the point where he couldn't distinguish the reality from hallucinations, memories of Misaki still haunted him sometimes.

Naruto glanced one more time at his reflection before pulling his hood back on his head and walking away. He didn't have a specific destination. With slow and staggering steps, he simply walked aimlessly.

A question suddenly popped into his mind.

 _'What point is there in living anymore?'_

Naruto stopped his steps again. He really saw no point in living anymore. He had not killed himself until this moment for the sole reason that he had hoped that the Joker would break out of Arkham Asylum again but 4 months have passed already and the psychopath had not made a move yet...and Naruto had finally reached his limits. He was exhausted. He was devoid of any strength and will to carry on.

It was an unusually quiet night. Even during the night, in Gotham, there would still be quite a few cars on the streets. But, this time around, the streets were empty.

As he walked, Naruto arrived at the Westward Bridge. He looked at the agitated waves of the river below and, skipping over the railing, he got as close to the edge as possible.

In face of death, his previously semi-paralyzed mind began to work in overdrive and all kinds of memories flashing before his eyes. Eventually, the lyrics of one of his favourite songs came at the front of his mind.

 _Get up! Get up! [...]_

"Get up..what for? What is there left for me to fight for? Nothing." Naruto's broken voice sounded.

Naruto had managed to pass over his grandfather's death relatively easily. He had preoccupied his mind with thoughts of Misaki and instead of grieving for the old man he strived to offer Misaki a better life, for her to not experience any kind of needs. With real blood and sweat, he earned the money by fighting in underground cage fights just so he could spoil her and he had always been there for her to protect her or to embrace her when she was sad.

Naruto had never envisioned a life without his 'little' sister. All his gruelling training every day had not been not for the sake of simply getting stronger but for becoming strong enough to protect her. Everything he had ever done was for her.

But now that Misaki was gone, gone was his purpose of living as well. It was if he had lost his soul.

A strong breeze blew and with his back turned to the river, Naruto sighed.

He let himself fall. The water splashed high up in the air and a loud sound was heard at the impact of his body with the river's water. As his body fell deeper and deeper, the light of the bridge that was being refracted into the water became dimmer and dimmer. Along with the churning water, the darkness encased him from all sides. He didn't try to fight it.

 _'Heh. Old man, it looks like I'm coming after you sooner than I thought._ '

 _'Mom...dad...I've never seen you in my life...now that I'm dying, will I finally be able to meet you?"_

With his arms and legs loosely spread, Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the cold arms of death embrace him _._

 _'Misaki, I promised you, didn't I? ...we'll always be together, even in death...Wait for me, Misaki...Your onii-chan is finally coming to you."_

* * *

 **Title of Chapter 8 - Embracing Death**

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	9. Chapter 9 - An old frenemy

AN:

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 _Last chapter_

 _'Heh. Old man, it looks like I'm coming after you sooner than I thought.'_

 _'Mom...dad...I've never seen you in my life...now that I'm dying, will I finally be able to meet you?"_

 _With his arms and legs loosely spread, Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the cold arms of death embrace him._

 _'Misaki, I promised you, didn't I? ...we'll always be together, even in death...Wait for me, Misaki...Your onii-chan is finally coming to you."_

* * *

 **Chapter 9 - An old "frenemy"**

The sounds of the water began to fade away. Slowly, he began to asphyxiate. Soon, the water would invade through his mouth and nose and fill his stomach and lungs... it was now only a matter of seconds... Naruto felt his consciousness slip away...

 _"Listen Naruto, you failed the last final exam and the exam before that! You shouldn't be fooling around like that." a scarred man in his twenties admonished the boy who was sitting on the floor in front of the class, tightly tied up with a rope. He was kind of short and scrawny even for his age and that, coupled with his baby-blue eyes and the 3 whisker-like birth marks on each cheek make him look adorable...at least it would if it weren't for the fact that he was scowling._

 _When the boy tsk-ed and turned his head to the side in disdain a tick mark appeared on the instructor's forehead and he shouted:_

 _"Alright! We're going to have a review test for the transformation technique! Those who have passed will have to line up as well!"_

 _A wave of boos came from the class but, in the end, the preteen students came in front of the class and, one by one, they began the demonstrate the Henge jutsu._

 _When it was the boy's turn, under the scornful looks from his classmates, he stepped forward as though he didn't give a damn about their opinion of him at all. He took a stance and with his hands and fingers positioned in a ram seal, he shouted:_

 _"Henge!"_

 _A cloud of smoke appeared and then... in the boy's place a completely different person stood. Long blonde hair styled into two ponytails, a pair of long legs, a slender waist - it was a naked girl, only her breasts and midsection being conveniently obscured by the plumes of smoke!_

 _The scarred instructor fell on his back with blood bursting from his nose while the boy rolled on the floor laughing his ass off the closet pervert._

 _[...]_

 _Sweat poured down like a torrential rain from the body of a 14-year-old boy. It was obvious that he was on the point of collapsing from exhaustion. Even so, his stance was a firm as that of a Buddha and if it weren't for the rising and lowering of his chest and for his eyes blinking, you'd think he was a statue._

 _One more hour passed from that moment and after god knows how much time since he first started, the boy's perfect horse stance finally wavered. But when his right leg began to tremble, seemingly out of nowhere, a bamboo stick swished through the air, impacting him._

 _"Do not waver!" came the stern voice of the old man that has been watching the boy all along from the side._

 _The boy grunted in pain at the hit and his eyes began to redden. He was about to cry not because of the pain from the hit but because of exhaustion._

 _"But I c-can't do it anymore!"_

 _"Only 5 hours standing in the horse stance and you're already spent? Bah! When I was your age 10 hours were enough only to wind me up a little. How are you going to ever reach my level if you can not do even this much?"_

 _But the boy collapsed to the ground and laid on his back, the muscles all over his body convulsing._

 _"Why can't you understand that I simply can't? I can't!" the boy shouted and tears began to fall from his eyes._

 _It was frustrating. It was very frustrating to pour all your heart and strength into something and after becoming spent to see your hellish efforts unappreciated._

 _But the old man only looked at him coldly. During the training session, it was almost like Naruto wasn't his grandson anymore but his enemy._

 _"Remember your vow! You said you'll train twice as much in Misaki's place. And a real martial artist stands by words even if that means the death for him!"_

 _"Get up!"_

 _[...]_

 _"Naruto, don't let him take the scroll no matter what! That's a dangerous scroll that has forbidden techniques. Mizuki had used you so he could get a hold of it!" a man with a large scar marring his face yelled. He was bleeding from several kunai wounds all over his body._

 _"Naruto, Iruka is afraid of you possessing that scroll." a silver-haired man said from atop the branch of a tree._

 _"W-What?" the boy finally spoke and looked with a scared face at the bleeding shinobi._

 _"What are you saying, Mizuki?" Iruka yelled and then said to the boy: "Don't believe him, Naruto!"_

 _Mean laughter came from Mizuki._

 _"I'll tell you the truth, Naruto!"_

 _"Don't!" Iruka screamed but Mizuki continued without a care in the world._

 _"A rule was created after the incident that occurred 12 years ago."_

 _"A rule?" the boy asked._

 _"It's a rule that only you, Naruto, can't find about."_

 _"Only me? What's that rule?" the boy asked desperately and his face showed an expression as though he felt like something he always wanted to know was finally going to be explained._

 _"STOP IT, MIZUKI!" screamed the bleeding man._

 _An insidious smile surfaced on Mizuki's face._

 _"It's the rule not to say that Naruto is a monster fox."_

 _"W-What?!" the boy said with his eyes widened in disbelief._

 _"In other words," Mizuki continued maliciously "you are the nine-tailed demon fox that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village 12 years ago."_

 _[...]_

It is said that before death, in the split of a second people watch their entire life flashing before their eyes. And that's what was currently happening to Naruto as well. However, something was different: there were many memories of him that it was the first time he was seeing. They were scenes from a fantasy-like world where soldiers all had superpowers, in a setting similar to that of Japan during Middle Ages...and they felt too real and detailed for him to disregard them as just a product of his imagination.

Memories of both lives flashed before his eyes in an uneven order but that didn't lower the intensity of what he was experiencing. Naruto watched how him from that world struggled with overcoming the hatred of thousands of people. He felt the anger at his best friend, Sasuke, betraying their village...and the pain at having his chest stabbed with a lightning technique by the very same friend. Naruto felt the emotions the other him had felt throughout his entire life: the joy during the times spent with the perverted godfather, the pain that followed after finding out about his death, the intensity of rage in the fight against the all-powerful leader of the terrorist organization Akatsuki, the disbelief and happiness at meeting the remnants of his parents inside his consciousness, the feeling of kinship that appeared between him and the powerful entity sealed within his body...and lastly, the despair at seeing the entire world falling into the treacherous peace of the unbreakable illusion that a god-like shinobi had casted upon the entire planet.

In the moments before drowning Naruto acknowledged one thing:

' _That must've been my past life.'_

He mentally sighed.

' _And I thought that my current life had been bad...what a shitty life.'_

Orphaned and hated since the very moment he was born in that world, bearing the hatred of his entire village and ostracized for his entire life... Naruto found it hard to believe that the previous him had been able to deal with it...

' _That only if it had actually been me. I may not be the sharpest tool in the box but I've never seen someone that stupid.'_

But this was when his thought process began to slow down. The lack of oxygen was finally showing its effects on his brain. In a few moments, he was going to die.

A deep regret resurfaced inside Naruto's heart.

' _If only I could have remembered my previous life even an hour ago... alas, it's too late now.'_

Had he remembered sooner, he wouldn't have gotten to that point of despair where he wished his own death...because compared to his previous life, the second life had been significantly better. Knowing that he had been through so much worse would have given him the strength to endure.

' _Two lives and both were crappy at best. Will the third will be any better?'_

At the moment when his life was about to be extinguished, a fiery hot burst of energy was awoken inside him. A sudden explosion rocked the riverbed and water parted as though a bomb had been detonated. An acidic, blood-red, energy covered Naruto's body and a dome of wind kept the retreating water at bay, away from reaching his body.

"K-Kurama?" Naruto asked hesitatingly

 _" **How pathetic! Someone like you is not worthy to call my name."**_ A demonic voice snarled from within Naruto's body.

Suddenly, all the water that had invaded Naruto's stomach and lungs was forcefully expelled when the red energy began to course through his body and Naruto began to scream in pain. It was the first time Naruto was coming into contact with Kyuubi's corrosive chakra in this life and the giant fox didn't want to make it any easier for him. It was excruciating.

 _Scene break_

Naruto crawled out from the water and laid on the riverside gasping for breath. And it wasn't because of having almost drowned but at the inhuman amount of pain he experienced when Kyuubi's demonic chakra flooded his body. Even so, Naruto didn't forget to show his gratitude towards Kyuubi despite the torment the fox had put him through afterwards.

"Thank you, Kurama!"

 _"_ ** _I told you that you're not worthy of speaking my name_!"**

Despite barely having escaped death, Naruto still felt the blood rush to his head the assholish way Kyuubi talked.

"I tanked you sincerely I don't understand what's your damn problem!"

 _" **You want to understand what's my damned problem? My damned problem is being stuck in a pathetic piece of shit, that's what my fucking damned problem is!"**_ the demon fox roared from within Naruto, with a rage that he had never seen the fox to possess in his previous life.

"Yet you had no problems in giving it your all to help this _pathetic piece of shit_ against Madara!" Naruto countered.

 _"_ ** _Help YOU?"_ ** Kurama thundered in a voice filled with anger and disbelief. _**"You dare compare yourself with Naruto? You're just a poor excuse of a imitation! The Naruto I knew was 10 time more of a man than you'll ever be!"**_

 _" **I killed his parents at just a few minutes from his birth, I impaled both of them with my claw! Because of me he endured the hatred of the entire world, he was a cursed existence! His best friend tried to kill him twice and a distant relative of his killed his godfather. He was a borderline-retard and his talent with the shinobi arts was shit. He was ridiculed and hated his entire life..."**_

 _" **...And through it all he endured! He fucking endured! He looked everyone in the eyes while they jeered him and declared: "I will become the Hokage!". He fought against the odds with a smile on his face and surpassed all of his rivals, becoming the second strongest shinobi in the world! He resisted my hatred and rage and made me acknowledge him!"**_

 _" **Yet you dare say you are him? You dare compare yourself with him? You despaired only because someone close to you died! Pathetic! Coward!"**_

At the end of his screamed rant, Kyuubi was gasping for breath and trembling with rage.

 _"_ ** _Don't try to speak with me ever again."_ ** the fox boomed one last time and Naruto felt their mental connection being severed.

* * *

AN:

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	10. Chapter 10 - Vicious

AN:

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

 **"Hello"** \- Kyuubi talking

* * *

 **Chapter 10 - Vicious**

Bronze Tiger causing Batwoman's death, civilians choosing to kill others in order to preserve their life, the Joker killing a few hundred people... it was in times like these that Bruce Wayne wondered if everything he was doing as Batman was actually worth it. The people he had been risking his life to protect every day had had no qualms about murdering others in cold blood.

And then there was another question he was asking himself quite often as of late: was his "no killing rule" any good? Wasn't he, in fact, letting innocent people die by not eliminating pure evil beings like the Joker?

Batman sighed and stood on the edge of the roof of one of the many skyscrapers in Gotham. By chance, he had learnt about what the young illegal cage fighter Naruto Uzumaki had become...a drug addict. Someone who looked like he had died inside...because the boy's sister was also killed in the explosion of the yachts...and ultimately because he, Batman, had wanted to keep himself away from killing the psychopath known as the Joker.

But Batman's mental discipline was so formidable that even a metahuman with powers over telepathy couldn't invade his mind. So he willed those thoughts away and said to himself:

 _'Nobody has the right to take a human life, regardless of how vile it is. And I'm no exception.'_

In response to whether it was worth it or not to protect people when they easily killed others in order to survive Batman answered himself:

 _'I became the Batman so others would not have to go through everything I went through. I took this mask so no other 8-year-old kid had to watch his parents being murdered in front of his eyes.'_

But then Batman clenched his fingers into a fist in frustration. Metropolis was quite close to Gotham...yet Batman has never asked for Superman's help in anything he did. If he had called him for help when the Joker just hacked into the television channels, with his planning and Superman's super speed and strength they would have surely managed to stop everything from escalating into the death of a few hundred people.

Bruce Wayne realized that even Batman is not invincible: first, Bronze Tiger had actually bested him in a pure hand-to-hand fight and held him down long enough for another assassin from the League of Shadows to kill Batwoman and then the Joker kept him in the figurative check until the people themselves detonated the bomb, causing a mass-murder. Batman admitted that he needed help...that he couldn't go on all alone, by himself any more.

While Batman was deeply immersed in his thoughts, a sharp claw was suddenly pressed into his Adam's apple and a sweet fragrance pervaded his nose. A seductive voice blew into his ear making him feel goosebumps all over his spine:

"My, my... what would you have done had I been a big bad villain trying to kill you?"

Batman schooled his voice to not betray his emotions.

"Catwoman."

An enchanting peal of laughter escaped from her lips and her chest pressed into his back making him lose his focus for a second. Batman had been trained to become immune against acts of seduction but whenever the leather-clad thief appeared in front of him, it was as though everything was for nought. It took every ounce of his willpower to not let it show how big of an influence she had on him. However, one can't easily fool a woman's sharp intuition, especially not that of someone like Catwoman - she knew how much her charm was affecting him. Catwoman knew what Batman felt every time she was near him. His face may be obscured by the mask but his eyes weren't. And his eyes couldn't lie.

Even so, Catwoman knew to not push things too far. She knew where was the limit. Batman was not the type to easily submit to anyone. Therefore, she retracted her arms from around his neck and sat beside him.

"You're even gloomier than usual. What got you brooding like that?"

"I'm not brooding." Batman said with a glare.

The woman felt the urge to pinch his face and coo: _'How cute!'_. But she kept herself in check - Batman would never forgive her for that.

Catwoman continued her mostly one-sided chat with Batman for a while when all of a sudden...

A demonic roar like that of a primordial beast rang in the silence of the night. A red wave of energy exploded, blasting apart the riverbed and evaporating the water. The shockwaves that followed were like a sonic wave, destroying the glass of all the windows of the cars and the buildings for a mile around the centre of the explosion.

Catwoman leapt to her feet in fear when a feeling of malice flooded her being. And she wasn't the only one: in that night every single human and even the animals, they all felt the awakening of a demon and its rage. For a few moments, they all felt like a tiny ant in front of a wrathful deity... even the infamous criminals jailed in Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Penitentiary, for a moment, they all involuntarily trembled.

However, Naruto had no clue whatsoever about the commotion Kyuubi had caused when he flooded his body with his demonic chakra. While the entire Gotham city was having a sleepless night, Naruto was sleeping and snoring like a dead pig in an abandoned building at the outskirts of the c

Even so, while Naruto slept with no care in the world, Kyuubi stood vigilantly. Unlike his extremely harsh words at Naruto previously, he still cared about him. At that moment his senses were extended around the boy and on the bridge from which Naruto had jumped. Kyuubi knew that in his anger he had caused a scene, that he had done exactly what he didn't want to ever do again: expose his existence and reveal to the world that Naruto is "special". On the other hand, unlike nearly a century ago, metahumans were not a novelty anymore. Naruto wouldn't be in nearly as much danger as Mito, his first jinchuuriki in this new world, had been.

Despite that, Kyuubi still kept his eyes open, his keen senses focused on the river. And true to his predictions, in less than 20 minutes a group of metahumans, the so-called superheroes from the Justice League, appeared at the scene to investigate. And despite his general disdain towards humans, Kyuubi had to admit that a few of them were strong. Really strong. Powerful enough to pose a threat even to him when he was at full power.

 _Scene break - Timeskip 5 months_

"Please, stop! Why are you doing this?" a pregnant woman yelled in panic.

A pair of red-tinted blue eyes looked at her dispassionately.

"Ask your husband why." the owner of those eyes said impressively as he held the woman's husband with a white knife that seemed to have been carved from a bone at his neck.

"Now, one last time: where are the blueprints?"

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth refusing to speak even at being threatened with death.

Naruto understood that. A cold look flashed through his eyes. He knee-kicked him in the stomach and the man collapsed on the floor clutching with both of his hands at his mid-section.

"You seem to not care about your life...then what about the life of your unborn kid? What about your wife?" Naruto spoke coldly as he left the man and headed towards the pregnant woman.

The blade of his bone knife glinted as he raised it above his head in an exaggerated stabbing motion. The woman shrieked terrified and her husband yelled in horror:

"STOP IT! I'M GIVING THEM TO YOU! I SWEAR!"

Naruto put his hand down but the pregnant woman still fainted. The man looked like he wanted to rush to his wife but the steely glare Naruto sent at him stopped him in his tracks.

"The blueprints?" growled Naruto. He was beginning to lose his patience. If the man hesitated any longer, he was really going to kill him.

The middle-aged man felt the hair all over his body stand up at Naruto's voice and understood in his heart that he could not stall for time any longer. His wife had stealthily called the police so only a few more minutes were needed until the police arrived.

"F-Follow me!" the man said in a fake stutter to appear as though he was terrified.

He limped towards his office with the black-clad Naruto trailing behind him. Behind the desk, there was a large portrait of him and his wife on their wedding day. The man took it down and revealed that in the wall there was a vault. He began then to press various buttons to type the code, but apparently, he was getting it wrong every time he introduced the 8-digit code.

Naruto finally lost his patience. He grabbed the man's head and slammed it into the metallic door of the vault. The man yelled in pain but Naruto was not done.

"You think I don't know you called the cops?"

"You stupid fuck!" he yelled and grabbed the man's wrist.

A howl of agony escaped from the man's throat when his hand was pinned to the wall with the bone knife.

"You have 5 seconds. Open the vault or I'll kill both you and your wife."

The man looked at the masked Naruto with a look of pure terror in his eyes. Despite the excruciating pain he felt from his stabbed through right hand, the man typed the code in less than 2 seconds with his left hand and the door of the vault opened.

Naruto took the blueprints from the vault and then, in a puff of smoke, they disappeared. Then, he wrenched the bone knife from the man's hand and delivered a harsh kick to his jaw knocking him out instantly.

The sirens of the police began to blare from outside but there was no hint of worry in Naruto's eyes. A soft breeze blew in the office out of nowhere and his silhouette vanished, only a few leaves remaining behind him. He appeared on the roof of one of the nearby buildings from which he proceeded to run down across its walls as if the gravity didn't work on him anymore. Soon after, he vanished within the darkness of a side alley.

 _Scene break_

 **"I see you're getting more vicious with each passing day."** a demonic voice came from within Naruto and he could sense the poorly masked glee in it.

"Oh look just who decided to finally talk after 5 whole months! What gives? There's still half a year till my birthday." Naruto remarked sarcastically.

Kyuubi growled.

 **"Don't forget who are you talking to, fleshbag!"**

Naruto spit on the ground and said in disdain:

"Get off your high horses. Right now you're the pathetic one. You think I didn't notice you secretly leeching off on my chakra every night while I sleep?"

Although Naruto couldn't see Kyuubi he instinctively knew that the fox flinched.

 **"Is this how you show your gratitude for saving your life? The Naruto I knew-"**

"Is fucking dead!" Naruto interrupted harshly. "That Naruto died! You were right back then, I can't compare with "your" Naruto. That's because I'll never be as retarded as he was."

"Constantly running after someone who tried to kill him twice, being in love with a flat chested bitch that turned him down every time and abused him daily and then hugging Obito like a brother... the very piece of shit that caused his mother and his father's deaths and brought the Apocalypse upon the Elemental Nations..."

"Indeeeed, how can I compare to him? I'll never be so retarded! Don't like it? Feel free to fuck off."

Naruto said and swore vehemently, leaving Kyuubi without words.

"I know you are not jailed inside me." Naruto said after a period of silence. "There is no seal holding you back. You can always leave my body and go possess some other chap. And it's not like the Uzumaki life force is unique anymore, there are quite a few metahumans nowadays that are even better in this regard."

"You're staying inside my body because you like it. Because it is convenient for you. _Because you need me, my chakra_." Naruto finished.

Kyuubi, on the other hand, was inwardly growling. This reincarnation of Naruto was too smart for his tastes. This Naruto would be next to impossible to manipulate... But in the end, that wasn't Kyuubi's purpose anymore. His only purpose right now was to become stronger...to get a real body.

For some unknown reason, after he was absorbed into Juubi, Kurama found himself awakening into the body of a baby Mito Uzumaki...in another world. But he was no longer the all-powerful bijuu that could flatten mountains with just a flap of his tails. He was just shell of his former self and his chakra was gathering at a snail's pace. To get back the chakra that he had released in order to save Naruto's life when he was drowning, would take decades if he were to rely only on himself. That's why he had been leeching on Naruto's chakra. Kurama felt ashamed at the condition he was currently in...the former chakra monster was now just a ghost, a parasite that had to rely on a human in order to survive.

"And I'm showing my gratitude to you by letting you live within my body. You've been feeding off on my chakra for 5 months already."

Five months passed since the incident at the bridge and Naruto was no longer the same person. His originally cynical views about life and people became even darker and he no longer had that many moral barriers. He became ruthless and decisive and his eyes were now blazing with one single desire, a desire which was more like an obsession: to murder in the most brutal way possible the killer of his sister: the Joker.

Right now, breaking into Arkham Asylum and killing the Joker with his current power was no longer something impossible. The problem, however, was what came after that: how will he evade Batman? How will he escape from the Justice League?

Naruto was no longer suicidal like before so he had to plan his steps carefully. The first thing he needed, before everything, was to become strong. Strong enough that even when cornered by someone from the Justice League, to be able to at least escape. Therefore, in the months that followed his brush with death, Naruto has trained as though his life depended on it.

One would ask: what could just 5 months worth of training accomplish? A legitimate question...if it weren't for Naruto having awakened all of the memories of his past life. Unlike when he just discovered chakra, this time Naruto had an already paved path before him: he knew HOW to train in order to get powerful.

Even so, Naruto didn't abandon the unconventional method of using chakra that he had created. In his memories, shinobi in Elemental Nations didn't possess a chakra heart and consciously expanding and unlocking the meridians within their bodies was not something that existed even at a conceptual level. Therefore, Naruto combined this current life's training technique and martial arts with the ninjutsu techniques that he remembered from his past life. In no time, Naruto easily learned wall and water walking and the jutsus Henge, Bunshin, Kage Bunshin, Kawarimi and Shunshin were all mastered in less than half a week - these techniques were in Naruto's eyes the most useful things he could possibly learn. Because these were the best in helping him slip away, in making him disappear.

There were many insanely powerful and destructive jutsus that Naruto remembered. However, he refrained from trying to learn any of them because of one simple problem: he didn't know what his chakra affinity was. Sure, there were also some non-elemental techniques like the Rasengan, but Naruto chose not to try starting to learn it yet. The reason? In his past life, Naruto had been a chakra powerhouse. And if that wasn't enough, he had also had the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed within his body. That being said, in his last life Naruto could easily afford to create tens of Rasengans every day. But a normal shinobi couldn't do that – and the current Naruto couldn't make dozens of clones every day; he would have to learn the Rasengan in the old fashioned way...and that would probably take him around a year. A year in each he would have to focus only on learning the technique without training his body or doing anything else. It was a period of time that was not reasonable at all in his eyes.

That being said, Naruto's thoughts shifted to another direction. He was already very proficient with hand to hand combat and weapons thanks to his grandfather's training. Therefore, Naruto thought of one of the most deadly close-ranged fighters that he had ever seen:

Kimimaro Kaguya.

A descendant of the Sage of the Six Paths who could manipulate all the bones in his body at will. Not only could he increase his bones' density to the point where they became more resilient than steel, conferring him a formidable power and toughness, he could also create bones in seconds and use them as weapons. Bone weapons that had no problems even when it came to cutting shurikens or swords in half.

Naruto still shivered at the memory of the terminally ill Kaguya single-handedly killing a few hundred of his clones - clones which were even empowered by Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto remembered that in that fight he had never managed to touch Kimimaro even once despite having hundreds of clones ganging up on him and that if it hadn't been for Rock Lee and Gaara, he would have been killed.

After he recalled that memory, a crazy idea appeared in Naruto's mind. What if he used his chakra to manipulate his body into becoming like that of Kimimaro? Having started to train with chakra before remembering the memories of his past life had been in the end a good thing for Naruto because he was not limited to just what shinobi in the Elemental Nations thought of chakra - Naruto was capable of thinking outside the box, of innovating new ways and methods of using the chakra even more efficiently.

However, altering the structure of his bones proved to easier said than done. Even so, after 5 months of arduous training, Naruto gained a small breakthrough: he could reinforce his bones to the point where his tibia could smash concrete pillars and he even managed to create a dagger by using the ulna bone of his right forearm. The problem he was still facing was that he needed around half an hour to create a new ulna bone and that the process was very painful.

 _Scene break_

Within the backyard of the Monkey King Dojo, Naruto was throwing low kicks at a very thick pole made of steel - after unlocking the main meridian in each of his members and connecting them to his chakra heart, wooden logs were of no use for him. They broke as if they were glass under his powerful hits.

Naruto let a low shout and the muscles of his left leg bulged as his chakra heart pumped madly.

*Bang*

A loud sound similar to that of a heavy hammer hitting an anvil was heard and a dent was left in the steel pole!

Naruto inhaled deeply and his normally cold face was lit up by a satisfied smile. The feeling of getting closer to his target was brilliant. Naruto knew for certain that in that moment if he were to meet again the cyborg metahuman that left him in a critical condition half a year ago in the cage, he would destroy him in less than 5 seconds.

Naruto revelled into the feeling of power.

Power!

Had he had power Misaki wouldn't have died. If he had power no-one could stop him from enacting his revenge. If he was powerful enough he would step on everyone that would stand against him and squash them like ants.

Naruto's blue eyes glowed with a burning ambition. He clenched his fists.

 _'I will become powerful. Powerful enough that even the Justice League will have to cower in front of me!'_

 _'In my past life, I became almost as powerful as a god. But in the end, I was still weaker and I got killed. In this life, I will become even more powerful! Powerful enough to stand evenly against the gods.'_

But Naruto's azure-blue eyes were suddenly tinted with hues of crimson red.

' _Powerful enough to merely stand against gods?'_

He shook his head resolutely.

' _No!'_

' _I'll become powerful enough to slay them!'_

But Naruto was suddenly awoken from his fantasizing when he felt someone's presence creeping into the courtyard of the dojo. His chakra heart made the control over his chakra become so exquisite that his perceptive abilities became not any worse than that of a sensor-nin in his past life.

Naruto picked a throwing dagger from a small pouch attached to his waist and channelled his chakra into it. A blue glow coated the blade of the dagger and Naruto stood patiently waiting for the intruder.

*swish*

A sound of a sharp object splitting the air was heard and the chakra-coated dagger was thrown at an explosive speed bordering that of a bullet.

The intruder barely ducked by a hair's breadth and when he looked behind him he saw the small dagger deeply stabbed into the wall of the building.

"Why are you in my yard sneaking like a thief, Mr. Superhero?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

The intruder's eyes narrowed at his tone but it wasn't an easy thing to make Batman lose his cool.

"Nice place you have here. From what I know you lost this place to buy drugs. Where did you get the money to buy it back? And how did you even convince the owner to sell it back to you?" Batman inquired.

Naruto's face became cold. Another dagger made its way into his hand and he channelled the chakra into its blade again.

"Are you the police? Do you even have any proof of me doing anything illegal?"

"Do you think that just because you're the Batman you're allowed to enter another one's house and start asking questions?"

Batman scowled. For a 16-year-old punk, Naruto sure had a mouth. But if that was enough to start angering Batman, the following words incensed him even more:

"How about you fuck off before I break your spine, Mr. Superhero."

Batman breathed in deeply. He calmed himself down. For all he knew, the boy could intentionally be talking like that to make him slip up and do a mistake.

"Don't think I don't know what you been doing during the past months, Mr. Mercenary." Batman said, using the same manner of speech Naruto did. "Last month, the blueprints of a secret project disappeared from Star Labs when one of their employees was fired. And since it was a secret, bordering illegal project, Star Labs couldn't legally pursue the thief. Therefore, they had to use a different method."

"Coincidentally, last night, the police found that employee and his wife unconscious. The man had signs of physical abuse and a deep knife wound on his hand. Furthermore, the vault in his office was robbed."

Contrary to Batman's expectations, Naruto's face remained unperturbed.

"So? What does that have to do with me? Do I look like I care?"

Batman was more than a little frustrated at the situation. For someone like him it was obvious that Naruto was the new mercenary that had become infamous in Gotham during the last few months, but for all intents and purposes, he truly had no real proof that it was him. Nobody knew that mercenary's face or even how his hair looked like. Every time he was on a job, Naruto wore the traditional ninja attire he had seen in movies, not the fashionable uniforms that shinobi wore in his past life. Naruto thought that a ninja's trademark was stealth. Therefore, when he was on a job, he always dressed in black clothes and a black balaclava covered his head, only exposing his eyes. Because of this, Batman didn't have anything to prove his suspicions – a strand of hair, some fingerprints, nothing!

"Why have you actually come to me?" Naruto asked.

"Work with me." Batman said directly, deciding that a straightforward approach would work better with someone like Naruto.

"Not interested." Naruto said bluntly, without thinking about it even a second.

Batman stood silent for a while.

"I'll pay you."

Naruto frowned.

"I'm not interested in becoming a _superhero_." Naruto rejected, saying the last word in a mocking tone.

Batman's eyes narrowed in his trademark glare.

"Those superheroes you seem to despise so much are risking their lives every day for ordinary people to be safe."

"So that's what you keep telling yourself, huh? Where were all the superheroes when my grandpa was shot in the head? Don't tell me it was just a thug with a gun that did it. It took a professional assassin to get the job done. Nothing less than that could possibly kill my old man." Naruto shot back.

"And where were all the superheroes when hundreds of people were blown to smithereens by the Joker? Where was the mighty Justice League when my innocent sister died?"

He wasn't shouting. There seemed to be no hint of anger on his face. But the red that tainted the blue of his eye spoke volumes of how great was the rage he felt, how great was his desire for vengeance. And for some reason, that calmness gave Batman a feeling of danger – a man that lets himself driven by his emotions is not that dangerous because his actions are very easy to predict. But the teenager in front of him was a far cry from how he had been half a year ago. He was cold and calculating. Batman could not read him.

Naruto continued:

"You're just a bunch of rich guys with a hero complex and with too much free time on your hands...Not to mention, is this all a game for you?"

"What was that?" Batman asked dangerously and began to step forward.

Naruto continued unperturbed:

"Take the Joker for example. How many times has he broken out of prison already? Three times, four times? Is this all a game to you? Catching the bad guys, them escaping, killing a few hundred innocents and then you catching them again?"

"Is the life of a crazy animal like the Joker more important than that of a few hundred innocents?"

"Answer me!" Naruto demanded, unconsciously letting out the killing intent that he had cultivated through the countless of battles he had fought during both his past and current life.

"No." Batman said eventually.

"Then why haven't you killed him yet?"

Batman didn't answer.

"You like being a hero, huh? But the problem is that for there to be a hero, a villain is needed, right? ...for you, the so-called Justice League to continue playing your game, you need a number of antagonists. Right? That's the only reason I can think of why you don't cut the evil from its roots."

"You, the Batman, need the Joker. He completes you."

When Naruto spoke the last words, Batman had finally had enough. He lunged at Naruto and grabbed him by the neck, trying to throw him to the ground in a judo-like grappling move. But the result made Naruto smirk coldly.

' _How is he so heavy?!'_ Batman barely had the time to ask himself before Naruto grabbed him by the neck only using one hand and slammed him into the ground, hard. It was just like how Nagato's Deva Path chokeslammed Naruto in his past life.

Naruto had not managed to perfectly recreate Kimimaro's kekkei genkai. Instead, he created an original ability which was, truth being told, inferior to that. While Kimimaro's bones didn't have a very different weight compared to that of an average human, Naruto couldn't increase the density of his bones and keep their original weight at the same time. Therefore, while Naruto's bones became just as resilient as steel, their weight increased exponentially. Right now Naruto weighted almost 400 pounds. Although Naruto sacrificed speed and agility for the sake of strength and sturdiness, he didn't get discouraged. His thoughts were clear: if his muscles became strong enough, even despite his enormous weight, he could move just as fast as before.

Batman groaned in pain when he was slammed into the ground but he was not out of the fight yet. Although he was on the ground, Batman was not disadvantaged in the least: he kicked with his heels the back of Naruto's knees and when the boy fell to the ground, Batman jumped up to his feet and grappled the kneeling Naruto from behind. He grabbed Naruto's neck in a triangle lock trying to defeat him by submission.

Despite the precarious position he was currently in, Naruto was not done. The chakra heart in his dantian pumped into the meridian of his right arm and Naruto punched back at Batman's head explosively.

A sound of cracking was head and Bataman's bat mask was shattered into pieces while he was flung backwards as if he were hit by a speeding truck.

Naruto rose up to his feet. But when he turned towards Batman, to his surprise, the dark knight also stood up from the ground. Blood was flowing like a river from Batman's forehead but he didn't back down. The forehead was the toughest part of the human skull yet Naruto's punch cracked it in one hit! Batman understood then what terrifying strength Naruto's seemingly skinny body held.

Although his opponent was bleeding profusely, seeing him standing up made Naruto mutter darkly:

"You don't want to do that."

Those were the words Batman said to Naruto half a year ago when the boy took out a pocket knife against him. Now, Naruto was throwing those words back at him.

Batman didn't reply.

"Have it your way. After beating you half to death I'll also get to see what is your real identity."

Although Batman's face was no longer covered by the mask, it was now obscured by the large amount of blood that flowed from his forehead.

Naruto didn't say any other words. He threw a punch at Batman and then jumped with a roundhouse kick. During these 5 months of training, Naruto has trained his muscles to regain his agility until he moved at the speed of an average human. That, however, was far from being enough against a martial artist of Batman's calibre. He dodged the punch and side-stepped Naruto's roundhouse kick relatively easily.

But Naruto had more than a decade of martial arts training and a past life worth of memories...he was no slouch either. Although he lacked in the speed department, he began to punch at angles that forced Batman to block the punch, not letting him fully dodge it. When he did that though, Naruto was momentarily stunned at Batman's response:

 _'Countering toughness with softness?!'_

It was a principle met in Kung Fu, but something like that was more like a myth, not something that anyone could actually use in a real fight! Yet, in front of his eyes, Batman was doing just that!

Batman was aware that with his terrifying strength, Naruto would destroy him with the next landed hit. Even if he were to directly block Naruto's punch, Batman's forearms would most likely be snapped. Therefore, Batman stance changed. When Naruto punched, he leaned softly to the side, letting his entire body sway from the blocked punch till the point where he was almost thrown off his feet, but still somehow standing. It was a pitiful sight for the eyes but the effects were unquestionable: this way he was dispersing almost half of the force of the blows!

In the split second when Naruto was shocked by the profoundness of his martial arts, Batman stuck lightning fast! Like a venomous snake, his right hand plunged towards Naruto and he stabbed into the pressure point of his biceps with three fingers. Naruto felt his muscles going numb and his arm fell down as if paralyzed.

Not even a second passed before Batman struck again, his steel-like fingers stabbing towards Naruto's other arm. But when he hit Naruto the second time, his body burst into a puff of smoke...blinding Batman for half a second.

All of a sudden, a sharp burst of pain in his back overwhelmed all of Batman's senses. When Naruto's shadow clone burst into smoke, the real Naruto shunshined behind Batman and backstabbed him with a bone knife. The dagger Naruto created from his own ulna bone was so terrifyingly sharp that it pierced through Batman's protective suit as though it was made of cotton not reinforced Kevlar!

If it was the old Naruto from his past life, that Naruto would have right away spammed a dozen shadow clones to deal with Batman. But that was not how a true shinobi acted. The current Naruto calculated each one of his steps, keeping his aces hidden in the sleeve. And when the opportune time came, his actions were swift and deadly.

Batman went still. If he as much as moved a centimetre, the blade of Naruto's bone dagger would cut through his spinal cord...something which would result in his complete paralysis, for life. As Batman thought of these things, Naruto's cold voice rang from behind mockingly:

"I said I would break your spine... Sorry to get your hopes up. It seems that, in the end, I'll have to cut it in half instead."

* * *

AN:

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	11. Chapter 11 - Planning

AN:

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

 **"Hello"** \- Kyuubi talking

* * *

 **Chapter 11 - Planning**

Six months passed since Naruto's fight against Batman and well over a year since the death of his sister, Misaki. It was the beginning of October and Naruto's birthday was coming very soon.

"The 10th of October." Naruto murmured to himself.

His face was split by a grin. A bloodthirsty one. He could barely wait for the present he was going to gift himself.

Although it was noon, Naruto was not training today. It was an exceedingly rare moment; during the last year Naruto could count on the fingers of one hand how many times he had skipped his training. Like a machine set on becoming stronger, aside from those few situations when he needed the entire day to finish collecting a bounty, Naruto did nothing but train, eat and sleep. However, that single-minded determination paid off.

 **"Naruto, I suggest you to not fully trust the intel you coerced out from that bat fleshbag."** a deep voice rumbled from within his body.

"That's natural. He isn't the only one I bought information from."

Half a year before, in the end, Naruto chose not to kill Batman because in the end he wasn't a psychopath and that despite the despising feelings he held for the so-called superheroes, Naruto didn't hate them. At least not to the point of wanting to kill them; after all, unlike others, they did help ordinary people, even if they did it in a half-assed manner. That didn't mean though, that Naruto simply let Batman go as though they hadn't just tried to kill each other. Naruto wanted to ensure the fact that Batman would no longer obstruct him in the future...and Kyuubi had been more than willing to take care of that problem. To this very day, Batman still held on his spine a residue of demonic chakra. A residue of chakra that would paralyze him if Kyuubi willed it so.

Naruto looked over the papers on the desk. There were 3 stacks of them, but they all contained information about the same subject. Apart from the information he forced Batman to give him, Naruto had also bought intel from 2 different information brokers. Therefore, he now wanted to compare the information he got from the 3 different sources.

Information...it was information about the Justice League's most powerful members.

Naruto remembered his past life perfectly. Almost better than some of the memories of his current life. Therefore, he knew exactly how he had been back then: loud, obnoxious and rash, always jumping head-first, without thinking about his chance of victory or the consequences of his actions. It was so because deep down the previous him always relied on Kyuubi to save him every time: against Haku, agains Sasuke, against Zero-Tails, against Orochimaru, against Pain, against Menma, against Obito, against Madara.

But Naruto, the current Naruto was not like that. He only relied on his own power and strength. Getting angry and throwing a tantrum would no longer confer him a godly power to crush his enemies. Because Kyuubi wasn't all-powerful anymore. He had to rely only on himself. He had to know his enemies and calculate his chances of success before doing anything.

Naruto read Batman's report about Superman's abilities. He could be summarised like this: powerful and invulnerable to everything but kind of stupid when it comes to actual combat. Can fly and shoot heat beams from his eyes.

The report from the first information broker said pretty much the same thing, but when Naruto read Superman's file from the 3rd stack, his eyes narrowed.

 _Vulnerabilities: poisoned gases; magic; kryptonite._

"Apparently Batman 'forgot' to mention this."

Naruto mulled over the new information.

"Oi Kurama. What do you thin it's the difference between our chakra and magic?"

Kyuubi was surprised by Naruto's question.

 **"I'm not too sure about that. I have never encountered someone that used magic. But while chakra is the result of both the physical and spiritual energy of one's body, I think magic consists of just the spiritual side. Therefore-"**

Naruto completed his words:

"While chakra may be able to hurt Superman, it will be two times less effective than magic because of the physical energy in its composition, right?"

Kyuubi hmm-ed in agreement.

 **"I don't like our chance to get away unscathed."** Kyuubi said after a small pause. **"Look over the blonde girl dressed in the same colours at that so-called Man-of-Steel."**

Naruto didn't even need to read the name to know whom the fox was referring to. It was of course, Supergirl.

Kyuubi continued:

 **"...basically she's almost as powerful as him, but she's more dangerous because she's not as stupid as him. Look at the note at the end of the page: she ripped a cyborg's kryptonite heart from its body by using a halberd."**

"Shit.." Naruto felt a headache incoming.

As he went through the 3 stacks of files, Naruto's expression became more and more gloomy...The Justice League was powerful...way too powerful for him to take on. In fact, he thought that even him from his previous life when he was at the peak of his power with both Kurama and the 6 Paths Sage Mode would not be able to take them all by himself.

"Wait a minute...Kurama, you can no longer manifest physically in real world, can you?"

 **"You don't have to rub it in every time you have the chance asshole."** Kyuubi growled unhappily.

"No, listen up, idiot. Since you don't have a physical body anymore, doesn't that mean that your chakra is different now?"

Kyuubi didn't reply him right away.

 **"That may be so, but my chakra still has physical energies. Otherwise I couldn't hope to one day regain my body."**

"Even so, the physical aspect of your chakra should be in a much lower proportion than the spiritual aspect. Therefore, your chakra would be more effective against those two Supershits." Naruto countered.

"How much chakra have you gathered until now?"

Kyuubi became depressed, knowing what Naruto wanted.

 **"Two tails' worth."** the demon growled, the tone of his voice making sure to show his displeasure.

It took Kyuubi almost a year to regenerate two tails' worth of chakra. And if what he suspected was anything to go by, he would have to gather a total of 10 tails' worth of chakra in order to create himself a body. And the problem was that the higher the number of tail, the harder it was acquire. If it took him an entire year to get just two tails, just how long would it take to get 10? Probably two decades or even more.

Naruto understood Kyuubi's thoughts. And he knew that he couldn't ask him to do something like that without giving him something equally valuable in return. Kyuubi was no longer his prisoner and Naruto was no longer his jailer. The two of them were now partners. Their relationship should be a "give-and-take" type of relationship.

"How about this, Kurama: help me with all of your chakra in the upcoming fight. Probably I'll be lucky enough to not encounter the red pants pervert and there will be no need for me to use it. But if do encounter him or his side-kick I'll need the very last drop of it.

"But still, this is what I'm offering in exchange: for the next two years I will not use chakra at all. All the chakra that my body produces every day will be yours to hog."

Kyuubi's rabbit-like ears perked up at Naruto's words. It took him 1 year to reform two tails just by using the leftover chakra that Naruto didn't need in order to heal his broken body after every training session. If just by leeching off such a small proportion of Naruto's chakra he achieved two tails, then how far will he get to after 2 entire years of taking all of Naruto's chakra? He could probably reach even the 7th tail in those conditions.

Kyuubi became excited and his normally mighty demonic voice trembled, betraying his state of mind:

 **"A-Are you serious? All of it? F-For two years?!"**

Naruto confirmed his words with not hesitation whatsoever.

"All of it. Getting my revenge is more important than everything! If losing 2 years of training is the price for that, I'm more than willing to sacrifice them!" he said and the blue in his eyes became tainted with a malevolent hue of red. "That's why I'm asking you for a concret answer now. Deal or no deal?"

 **"Deal!"**

After a few good hours of reading and thinking, Naruto made his own files with information compiled from the 3 reports. But he made one only for the superheroes that he thought that could pose a threat for him

 _Green Lantern_

 _\- the most versatile member of the League: can attack, defend, track, fly and capture_

 _\- experienced fighter;_

 _\- very level-headed_

 _Note: Avoid at all costs. If combat is inevitable, I should sneak attack him with my deadliest move and then run away._

 _The Flash_

 _\- safe to assume that he has a supersonic speed_

 _\- poor, amateurish combat skills_

 _\- an airhead_

 _Note: As long as I don't get one-shot blitzed, 4 kunais and some ninja wire would be enough to kick his ass._

 _Superman and Supergirl_

 _\- poor martial arts but nearly invulnerable_

 _\- can fly and shoot heat beams from their eyes_

 _Note: If I managed to steal some kryptonite, dealing with them would be no problem. If I didn't and if it comes to trading blows with any of them, I would burst with my and Kyuuby's combined full power instantly, to catch them unprepared._

 _Shazam_

 _\- super speed, strength, resilience_

 _\- can fly and call forth lightning_

 _\- poor martial arts._

 _\- no apparent weaknesses_

 _Note: one of the hardest to deal with as he has no apparent weaknesses. Avoid at all costs. In case of combat...run using scattered Bunshins._

 _Martian Manhunter_

 _\- a telepath - but my mind should be safe thanks to Kyuubi_

 _\- can fly and he has an ability similar to Obito's Kamui._

 _\- can transform into a humanoid snake_

 _Note: no apparent weaknesses but I should be able to deal with him...that if it weren't for that troublesome ability to become intangible._

 _Wonder Woman_

 _\- unrivalled martial arts, very high intelligence_

 _\- super strength, speed, resilience, power of flight_

 _\- her lasso renders the victim immobilized and forces him to speak the truth_

 _\- no apparent weakness_

 _Note: the most dangerous superhero for me to face. Avoid at all costs. In case of combat I won't bother to even try to retaliate. Run away using Bunshins or even Kage Bunshins._

Naruto ruffled his hair roughly in frustration. Kyuubi was right: the situation didn't look too promising. The files he compiled were only about the superheroes he wasn't confident to face. And that was under the premise that they were alone. But from what he gathered, the heroes often acted in teams of two.

"Even if I manage to get away from Arkham at first, eventually they will still catch me. Not only are those fuckers very strong, they are also connected to everything of importance in the country. Many of them are also probably very rich...and with money you can get nearly everything you want in this world."

Naruto sighed again. Right now he was confident in defeating pretty much everyone in the Justice League except for a select few... the problem, however, was that there was a huge gap between those select few and the average superhero. Wonder Woman, Superman, The Flash, Shazam, Supergirl... those like them were on an entirely different league compared to what Naruto called "average scrubs" (those like Batgirl or Green Arrow for example) or the "cringy kids" (Teen Titans).

Naruto was very cold and harsh to himself as well, not just when judging other people. He didn't overestimate his own abilities. He was well aware of the fact that he still had a long way to go till he would be able to go toe on toe with the big shots.

 **"What are you going to do in the end, Naruto?"** Kyuubi asked. **"Are you sure you want to proceed like that with your plans? Your chances of success would be much higher if you were to wait another 1 or 2 years."**

Seeing Naruto not replying anything in return, Kyuubi continued.

 **"You said it yourself, even if we escape, eventually we'll still get caught. The problem is not that we'll be imprisoned...the problem is: what if these humans will deem you worthy of death penalty?"**

Naruto froze. He hadn't thought about that before. The Joker escaped death penalty until then because he was considered mentally ill. The other metahuman criminals were spared from death by authorities because despite the atrocities they caused, the government saw them as potential recruits, a resource that would be ready to be exploited in the case where the Justice League went berserk one day.

But him? For all they knew, Naruto was an ordinary human. Naruto realized once again the ugly truth of the world he lived in.

"It's the same as in my past life. Despite the degree of 'civilisation' and 'freedom', Earth is no different from Elemental Nations. Both here and there normal people aren't worth anything."

"When that shitstain of a father died after making his own son a living sacrifice and sealed a demon inside him, he was revered as the greatest hero to have ever lived in Konoha. But nobody really cared or remembered about the countless average shinobi that died during the first 3 Ninja Wars."

"Nobody cared about the thousands of innocent people that died in Amegakure thanks to the 3rd Hokage's orders but when Orochimaru killed him, an entire nation mourned for him."

Naruto abruptly stopped and exhaled loudly. In his anger, dozens of bones had burst from all over his body, skewering the leathery chair he was sitting on and the desk as if they were made of paper.

Naruto clenched his teeth. He knew that Kyuubi was right. An average human like him would easily be condemned to death if he were to proceed with his plans and get arrested.

But he couldn't wait anymore. The fire in his heart was too powerful for him to resist against for another month, let alone a few years. He couldn't wait anymore. He couldn't bear with waiting any longer. It was eating him from inside. Every night he was dreaming of Misaki and every morning his thirst for the revenge was making him feel like wanting to go and slaughter not only the Joker but the corrupted guards of the Arkham Asylum too. He wanted to slaughter everyone there, to make the entire prison a pool of blood. It was driving him insane.

But then, by habit, Naruto's chakra heart began to pump at an alert pace. As the chakra started to flow through the five meridians that he unlocked making his rage and bloodthirst gradually subsidise. His breathing became normal and he calmed down.

"Don't worry, Kurama. On the 10th of October..by the end of that day there will be nobody in the entirety of the United States that would not know what I have done and what I am."

Naruto said. A wicked idea was born in his mind. A ruthless look appeared in his eyes.

* * *

AN: I'm warning you: expect a very gory chapter next time.

But the story won't get any darker than that afterwards. Quite the opposite. In fact, after the next chapter you can say that the initial arc of this story will end. And this initial arc is the darkest. Things will get more moderate after that.

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made._ )


	12. Chapter 12 - The Arkham Massacre

AN: Some people raised some questions which I think that should be answered here as well for there are probably more of you who are wondering about them.

 _1\. Why does Naruto not try to bring Misaki back to life instead of wanting revenge_?

While we know that there are several different ways in DC to resurrect someone, Naruto himself doesn't know. Until recently he had been just an ordinary delinquent living his entire life in Gotham. As for using Edo Tensei from his past life, it's the same: again, while we know how it was done, Naruto himself doesn't know the exact process, the necessary fuinjutsu work or even the handseals.

 _2\. This is not a Villain!Naruto. It is an antihero Naruto_. Like one of the reviewers said, he'll do what the heroes don't want to do - kill those that deserve to be killed. However, you'll have to wait a bit until Naruto will become something like The Punisher from Marvel. Right now he doesn't care about doing such things yet.

 _3\. Is this a harem?/Why is this not harem?_

There are a shit-ton of harem fics out there, you perverts, lol. In fact, finding a fic that is not a harem and has +40k words is like a finding a diamond in the middle of a street, that's how rare they are.

 _4\. The pairing is Naruto/Galatea (Supergirl's badass clone)._

 _5\. NOT ALL THE NARUTO CHARACTERS WILL APPEAR IN DC WORLD_. Only those few that I like or those that would make a great addition. Ask me who's gonna be added in private if you want to be spoiled.

Sorry for my long ass AN and for the caps. Enjoy!

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

 **"Hello"** \- Kyuubi talking

* * *

 **Chapter 12 - The Arkham Massacre**

"Dude, are you even aware what are you asking of me? Do you want the FBI to haul my ass in jail?" A fat man with curly shoulder length hair and greasy hands shouted at someone, despite that person's intimidating appearance. He was aware of his own value. He knew that nearly nobody would want to harm him, that's how appreciated his skills were.

"Cut the chase and tell me how much money do you want." the other person said. It was a black-clad man whose head was also covered by a balaclava. His two red-tinted blue eyes were the only thing that could be seen from his real appearance.

"Well, you see, considering the risks and the probability of-"

A weird popping noise was heard and the fatty stopped and distractedly looked at the masked man. But then, under his disbelieving eyes, the man's shoulder was looking as if it dislocated by itself. A milky white end of a bone protruded from it.

The fatty stepped back in panic when the man's right hand went to his left shoulder and gripped on the bone protrusion. Slowly, as the man pulled it, a 2 feet long white bone in the shape of a sword appeared.

"I wanted to make our little transaction in a civilized fashion. But unlike you, I'm a very busy man. You know, places to burn, people to kill and all that. Please excuse my lack of patience in listening to the crap coming out of your mouth."

The fatty's small eyes widened to the point where one would think they would pop out of his skull. The fat all over his body was jiggling at how hard he was shaking in fear.

"Now... tell me, how much do you want ?"

But the fatty was too terrified to demand any money from him.

"I-I'll do it for free!"

The masked man shook his head.

"No need for that. Hacking into all the TV channels in USA can't possibly be an easy thing. How does $100,000 sound for you?"

 _Scene break_

"What's this?"

"I think someone just got tired of his job and decided to play a prank before getting fired."

"Shit! They were just about to score! I swear to god I'm going sue those bastards!"

These and other similar things everyone in Gotham began to shout on the day of 10th of October. But the phenomenon was not restricted only to Gotham. The very same thing was happening across all of United States of America.

It was noon when the programs transmitted by all the television channels were cut off. Even the huge screens in the large cities like Gotham, New York or Los Angeles stopped showing the usual commercials. For a second, all the screens turned black.

But then, a series of photos began to be transmitted.

A red haired 7 year old girl with what looked like a two pairs of whiskers was glaring at an uproariously laughing younger boy beside her with her big and innocent blue eyes. There was a smudge of ice-cream on the tip of her nose, ice-cream that was obviously from the blond boy's hands.

The image changed to show the red-haired whiskered girl now looking about 14 years old trying to kiss on the cheek the a very reluctant-looking boy. It was the same blonde boy from the the previous photo. He was similarly older and 3 pair of whiskers adorned his cheeks as well.

Once again the image changed and the previously 14 years old girl was now 18 year old breathtaking beauty. She was dressed in a very elegant black siren dress and her crimson red hair was styled glamorously in a waterfall braid. In the picture, she was hugging from behind a 16 year old blond teenager and her angelic face was resting above his shoulder. Although the boy's casual and ordinary clothes made a stark contrast with the girl's appearance, they made a heart warming image.

While the screens all over the country displayed these 3 pictures, only a few seconds passed. Then, something else began to be transmitted.

The same blond boy with whisker marks on his cheeks that appeared in the previous photos was now filming himself live. But now he looked older - around 18 - and more mature. His expression was cold and his entire demeanour screamed danger. There was an air of hostility around him that even the most oblivious person would notice from the first glance.

 _"Yo, everyone."_

 _"You must be wondering what's the deal with me showing you all those photos..."_

He paused.

 _"That girl was my sister. We were orphans and she was the last remaining family I had. That, only until-"_

The scene changed and a footage of two yachts exploding was shown.

 _"-someone decided to kill her along with another few hundred people. And now, t_ _hat someone is living comfortably in Arkham, thanks to the great Dark Knight, Batman!"_

The boy's voice suddenly went up and he shouted:

 _"Come on everyone! Come on, come on! A round of cheers for Batman! Long live the Justice League! Also, long live our retarded government!"_

 _"I mean it is perfectly normal to give a mass murderer the best living conditions, isn't it? Indeed, how could they possibly offer a mass-murderer like the Joker a death penalty? Nooo, he needs to murder another few hundred people before- O_ _ooh wait! Regardless of how many innocent people he'll murder, for our great government, 300 ants dead or 3000...it's all the same."_

The boy's fake happiness suddenly disappeared.

 _"Why am I making this video?"_

 _"You see, while the Joker will never be punished for his sins, a minor character like me will surely be sentenced to death for what I am about to do...So, before I'm going to be sentenced to death, I want the whole word to see it! To see me doing what the Law should have been doing. What the so-called Justice League should be doing with those that the government deems above the law."_

The image shook for a few moments as the boy put and adjusted the camera in its support. Then, he turned on the light.

At the sight they were shown on the screens, collective gasps of horror were heard all across the country.

It was a cell. And there, straight in front of the camera, a figure was nailed in the wall from his two hands with two bone daggers as though he was crucified.

 _"You think that you broke me? You think that this is actually affecting me? Huehue. Haha. Ha ha!"_

A crazy laughter came from the figure nailed into the wall. It was none other than the Joker.

With the back turned at the camera and still staring at the Joker, the boy began to speak.

 _"Now let's think about it. If the government were to kill all the mass murderers, if the Justice League actually dealt with all the criminal metahumans that rape and kill innocents...if they did all that, would we still have them breaking out of prison and committing atrocities again?"_

The boy stopped speaking. Terrible screams began to be heard.

 _Scene break - 2 hours before_

 **"Naruto, you know there is no turning back if you do that."**

"I know."

Naruto continued his walk in silence until Kyuubi broke it again:

 **"I've never expected of you to come up with something like this. Appealing to the masses and trying to manipulate them in order to ensure your survival in the aftermath... even the you from this second life of yours was not that devious before."**

Naruto sought to achieve 2 things by making the Joker's death public. First of all, to incite the people and make them sympathize with him. In the best scenario for Naruto, people might even start a rebellion. However, he knew that it was a very small chance for that to happen.

The second thing Naruto wanted was to let the government become aware of the fact that he's metahuman - that was for the case where if the government won't care about the population's reaction at sentencing him to death. Because if the government knew that he was a metahuman, there were 100% chances for him to be spared. The metahumans, regardless of how vile they were, were seen as an important asset for the government.

"What importance does it have what methods I use as long as I manage to survive?" Naruto asked impassively.

 **"That's one dangerous way of thinking. The end does not always justify the means. You don't want to become someone like Madara...do you?"**

Naruto stopped in his tracks.

"Is the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox actually warning me of something like this?" He laughed. "You've changed too, Kurama."

Naruto began to walk again.

"Right...and wrong. Justice...and crime."

"What is the difference between those, Kurama? Do you remember Nagato's speech? When he destroyed Konoha?

 _"We both want the same thing. We both want the peace Jiraiya spoke of. You and I are no different. We're both working for our own justice. The justice I have meted out against Konoha, is exactly the same as what you're trying to mete out against me. Everyone feels the pain of loss the same. We both know that pain. You are working for your justice, and I for mine. We are just ordinary people driven to revenge in the name of justice."_

"Back then I was too stupid to understand these words. No, I didn't want to. I kept spouting that old pervert's idealistic bullshit. But in this life I have experienced pain... True pain... And now I understand Nagato."

Naruto clenched his hand into a fist.

"So what if I become like Madara? Why does it even matter? Power makes justice."

"I've been a "good guy" and a hero in my past life, since birth. Where did that get me? Scorned and hated for more than a decade by the people that should have kissed my ass in gratitude for the rest of their lives. Being an orphan, with a demon in my gut and hunted by a terrorist organization for years. Then fighting and dying in a hopeless war against a god...Fuck that."

"This time I'm only taking care of myself. This time only I matter. The rest of the world may very well burn. Becoming a second Madara? I don't care."

"If I'll have to step on a mountain of corpses to have my way, then so be it."

As he talked, Naruto got closer and closer to his destination. And the closer he got, the more his bloodlust soared. Unknowingly, the blue in his eyes completely disappeared, crimson red slits taking its place. There being no seal to confine Kyuubi, Naruto and Kyuubi's chakra often mixed and synchronized with each other.

Finally he was there: Arkham Asylum. A bloodthirsty smile crept on Naruto's face.

Guards, doctors, prisoners, janitors...he was going to murder them all. Because to a certain degree they were all guilty of Joker's breaking out of prison last year. Some of them actively participated in aiding the psychopath to escape, while others kept the signs of that happening to themselves in order to not lose their jobs.

Naruto's wrists popped and the ulna bones from his foreams pierced through his palms. Two larger than average bone daggers appeared in his hands.

"Who are you! Don't move!" the two gatekeepers yelled with their semi-automatic guns pointed at Naruto's skull.

One of the guards pressed the trigger.

 _*bang*_

Naruto's slit red eyes dilated to the point that they become a full circle. Time seemed to slow down.

 _*clang*_

The two pieces of a bullet cut through the middle fell on the asphalt. The guard that shot at him was petrified.

A growl came from Naruto's throat.

"KILL!"

The sound of a sharp object cutting through flesh was heard. The man collapsed with both of his hands gripping at the his slit throat.

The smell of blood and the adrenaline coursing through his veins was driving Naruto crazy. If it weren't for his chakra heart circulating his chakra through his meridians he would have already let the malice in Kyuubi's chakra take control of his actions and go berserk.

When the other gatekeeper saw what happened, the hair all over his body rose.

"P-Please, d-don't!" he stuttered, backing away in terror. He was just a gatekeeper, he had never seen someone being killed in front of his very eyes.

But Naruto was as if he hadn't even heard the man's pleas. He aimed at the guard's forehead with his index finger. Faster than a bullet, a bone projectile shot from his finger. It passed through the man's skull efortlessly and proceeded to pierce the nearby buildings as though they were made of paper.

One after another, with the efficiency of a ROOT shinobi from his past life, in little over an hour Naruto mercilessly killed anyone appearing in front of his eyes. No-one was spared. Prisoners, doctors, guards, the director. Everyone. And through it all not one drop of blood landed on him.

There was only one place in the entire prison that was left untouched. He specifically kept it for the end.

Naruto calmed down his breathing and his expression reverted to normal. He took out a phone from pocket and dialled a number.

 _"Hello?"_

"Is everything ready?"

The man at the other end of the line recognized Naruto's voice and he immediately became nervous if his voice was anything to go by.

 _"Y-Yes."_

"Good. You can start."

 _Scene break_

An inhuman roar was heard from the screen. The traffic was blocked not just in Gotham but in all the great cities of United States. People were all out of their cars, looking at the huge screens on the sky-scrapers in disbelief.

They saw the young man grabbing the Joker from his clothes and yanking him from the bone daggers that were pinning him into the wall of the cell. Gaping holes were left in the Joker's hands where the daggers had been as the weapons remained pinned into the wall.

The madman fell on the floor, his body convulsing uncontrollably because of the pain.

Then, everyone heard Naruto starting to speak.

"You know, I've had more than a year to research and think of methods to torture you to death. Some of them were very interesting. Take this one for example: the man would be put on the floor and tied up tightly. Then, a metallic box full of rats would be placed on his stomach... a metallic box which doesn't have a wall in the place where it touched the stomach. After that, the box would be heated up. In their desperation to get away from the heat, the rats would try to escape... but where to? The box is made of metal...however, only 3 sides are. So, the man's stomach would be their only way out."

"Imagine the rats digging through your body, carving through your organs. Imagine them eating your flesh for hours, suffering in that torment."

But then Naruto sighed in saddness:

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to do something like that... and the bad part is that most of the more interesting methods take a long time as well. I don't have that much time. Only roughly 20 minutes before your secret lover Batman appears."

"Still, I promise to no disappoint you." Naruto laughed darkly. He went to the wall and pulled one of his bone daggers.

But the Joker was unimpressed.

"You think this scares me? There's nothing you can possibly do to me. You can't make me fear you. You can't do anything."

"Let's see...you're here for revenge, right?" the Joker continued and licked the corner of his lips where his scars started. "Whom did I kill this time?"

"Was it you parents? You sister? ...or maybe your lover? Huehue! Hahaha!"

Naruto's rage soared and he stomped on the Joker's left leg. He smashed into a bloody paste.

"AAARGH!" the Joker screamed in agony. His pain was real. But at some point that scream of agony turned into laughter. An obnoxious and mocking laugher.

Naruto was already incensed to the point where he was seeing red. He grabbed the Joker from his slimy hair. He was going to slam it into the wall and turn it into a mess of gore.

 **"Naruto! Don't do it!"**

Naruto stopped with the Joker dangling from his hand in mid-air.

 **"Don't you see it? He's trying to manipulate you into killing him swiftly. He's using your rage against you. You want to offer him a quick death? You want him to escape that easily? Make him beg for death. Male him desperately wish for death!"** Kyuubi said, his demonic voice dripping with a malicious glee.

It was in that moment that Naruto seemed to have woken up from a lethargy. The red haze clouding his vision disappeared and his now blue eyes looked at the Joker.

"You're good...you almost made me kill you. I almost fell for it."

At Naruto's words a unreadable expression flashed on the Joker's face and a unknown emotion flickered in his eyes.

Naruto threw the clown to the ground. His hands went in a cross-like seal and two shadow clones popped into existence at his sides.

Naruto turned and spoke to the camera.

"I'm not some sort of dark hero delivering true justice on the evil or some other bullshit. There's nothing poetic and dramatic about this. It's just plain, old-fashioned revenge. For my little sister."

Then, Naruto paid no attention to the camera anymore. His two clones grabbed the Joker roughly from his arms and lifted him up.

"Lingchi... Death by one thousand cuts... Slow slicing... what I'm going to do has several different names."

Naruto's took his bone dagger and slowly, ever so slowly "drew" a diagonal line on his back. The Joker screamed in agony and trashed desperately, but the clones' hold was like a vice. They were immovable.

"So it was your sister, eh? I wish I saw the expression of terror on her face when she died!" the Joker screamed insinuatingly. But then he screamed in pain when the knife opened up his stomach.

"Was she a beauty? Too bad I didn't get to fuck her like a whore before killing her...Oh wait, maybe I did? How did she look like? I want to remember how did she taste like."

Naruto was livid. He knew that he had to remain calm because getting enraged was exactly what the Joker wanted. But he simply he couldn't keep his cool.

But before being able to do anything, it was actually one of the shadow clones that couldn't take it anymore. It let go of the Joker and went to the wall and grabbed the remaining bone dagger.

The clone closed in on the Joker with the dagger. A disturbing grin twisted its face. It grabbed the Joker from the jaw and the stabbed the bone dagger into his mouth. It stabbed trough his lips and teeth and cut his tongue through the middle.

A blood curdling scream muffled by the blood he was gurgling came from the Joker. His previously still defiant demeanour vanished and only pure terror could be seen on his face.

"There you go boss. You can continue now." the clone said.

Naruto looked at the clone, distracted. Seeing his clone smilingly stab the Joker's mouth and cutting his tongue disturbed him greatly. He just realized how cruel he had actually become...because the clone was more or less identical with him.

"It was for Misaki-chan." the clone said.

Those words steeled Naruto's wavering resolve.

 _'So what if I became so cruel? So what if I'm no different than a demon? At least this time I'll be called one for a valid reason.'_

Naruto's bone dagger slashed.

Again.

Again.

And again.

He lost track of time. Hundreds of cuts marred the now unrecognizable body of the Joker. Naruto's feet were wet. Wet from the pool of blood that continued to flow from the nearly dead Joker.

 _*clang*_

All of a sudden, the metallic door of the cell was torn apart from its hinges. A blue and red clad muscular figure appeared.

* * *

AN: Hopefully I didn't go overboard lol. Waiting for your opinions, reviews, critics.

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	13. Chapter 13 - Shazam!

AN: Last chapter marked the end of the first arc of the story. In this one, the 2nd arc starts.

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

 **"Hello"** \- Kyuubi talking

 ** _"Hello"_** \- telepathy

* * *

 _Previous chapter_

 _'So what if I became so cruel? So what if I'm no different than a demon? At least this time I'll be called one for a valid reason.'_

 _Naruto's bone dagger slashed._

 _Again._

 _Again._

 _And again._

 _He lost track of time. Hundreds of cuts marred the now unrecognizable body of the Joker. Naruto's feet were wet. Wet from the pool of blood that continued to flow from the nearly dead Joker._

 _*clang*_

 _All of a sudden, the metallic door of the cell was torn apart from its hinges. A blue and red clad muscular figure appeared._

* * *

 **Chapter 13 - Shazam!**

"Oh look who decided to come! If it's not the Man-of-Steel himself!" Naruto said mockingly. Inwardly, however, he was cursing his bad luck. Why did Superman have to be the first one to arrive?

"Cut the crap, boy. Release him immediately!" Superman in a no-nonsense kind of voice.

Naruto didn't back away in the least. His expression became twisted by anger.

"Release him. It's the last time I'm warning you! There are 6 different ways I could destroy before you'll have the time to even blink."

Naruto grabbed the half-dead body of the Joker from the head and brought it in front of him, holding it in mid-air.

"Look at how fast you arrived, just look at how readily you jumped to save the life of mass-murderer, of a psychopath."

"Where were you when this animal blew over three hundred people into smithereens? Metropolis is at a few seconds away from Gotham given your speed... So where the fuck were you when my innocent sister died? Were you scratching Lex Luthor's balls?"

"You want to save this waste of life? You want to save this fucking piece of shit?" Naruto screamed in anger.

While holding the Joker in air by the head with his left hand, Naruto's other hand suddenly stabbed forward. His right hand pierced through the Joker's spine, into his torso. He yanked his arm out of the Joker's body and threw the still warm corpse to the side like a dirty rag.

In his right hand, the Joker's bloodied heart was still pulsating.

"Okay, save him now!" Naruto said savagely and the fingers of his right hand clenched into a fist, crushing the Joker's heart into gory paste, its blood bursting all over his face and chest.

Superman stood shocked. Never before has he seen such a gory scene unfolding in front of his very eyes. Never before has met such a brutal and vicious person. He looked in disbelief at the barely 18 year old boy in front of him. A burning rage exploded inside him.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!" Superman screamed.

The floor under his feet cracked as he burst towards Naruto with a wide punch.

Once again, Naruto's silt red eyes dilated to the point where they became a full circle. Time seemed to slow down and Naruro saw clearly the incoming right cross. It was brutish and unrefined, with no technique whatsoever.

Instead of dodging to the side, in the split of second before the Superman's fist was about to blow him away, Naruto actually jumped forward.

Something like a horn protruded from the middle of Naruto's forehead and he viciously smashed his head against Superman's face.

"Aaargh!" the Man-of-Steel screamed in pain as he plummeted backward and slammed into the wall of the cell.

"Lucky shot!" Superman said as he lifted himself from the ground.

He was about to pounce at Naruto again when a weird tasting liquid reached his lips.

 _'Blood?'_

 _'A-Am I bleeding?!'_ Superman asked himself in disbelief.

His hand went to his nose...blood was flowing from it. It was broken! Superman was stunned as he looked at his bloodied hand, unable to understand the reason.

 _'Why am I not healing? Why did it hurt me in the first place?!'_

Naruto, however, was not one to miss an occasion to attack. He spread his fingers in front of him. Ten bone projectiles were shot and Superman cried out in pain. While they didn't manage to pierce his skin, 10 strikingly purple bruises appeared on his face, neck and above his heart.

Naruto cursed.

 _'Once he gets his shit together, I'll be dead meat.'_

Naruto knew that once Superman got over his surprise, he would lose all the chance to get away. Those bone projectiles he had shot could easily pierce even reinforced steel, yet they only left some bruises on his skin. What Naruto didn't know was that if his bones had not become filled with chakra after he created his version of Dead Bone Pulse bloodline limit, they wouldn't have left even those bruises on Superman's skin. It was the same situation for the feat of breaking his nose.

 _'I have to press him! I have to not let him breathe, not even a moment! I'll lose if I don't finish him in the next 2 seconds!'_

"Kurama!" Naruto shouted and with a battle cry worthy of a Viking, Naruto lunged towards the Man of Steel.

An almost viscous crimson red energy coated the blade of his two daggers and he slashed at Superman's neck with both at the same time.

Superman barely lifted himself from where he collapsed after being shot down when, like a phantom, the blond teenager appeared in front of him, swinging the now red bone daggers at his neck.

Superman instinctively raised his arms to defend himself. He cried out in pain. Blood was splashed in the air as two deep cuts appeared across his forearms.

Enraged, Superman screamed.

"Enough!"

His eyes became red and two beams of heat were shot. Just as Superman realized what he actually did and the beams hit his opponent...the teenager burst into smoke.

Superman activated his X-ray vision and looked around. However, no trace of Naruto could be found. Superman didn't know whether to be angry or relieved. Relieved at his heat vision not having killed the boy or angry at letting him escape after all the punishment he had been put through.

Suddenly, Superman lost the feeling in both of his arms. A burning sensation began to spread from the cuts he had received on his forearms and his arms fell down uselessly. It was as though they had been paralyzed.

 _Scene break_

A red costumed man with a lightning motive on his chest was barely standing on his feet. The visible part of his face was as white as a sheet and there were traces of vomit on his chin.

"Get a hold of yourself, Flash!" Green Lantern said.

But he couldn't blame Flash for his reaction. John Stewart was a hardened war veteran; he had seen his share of death and blood in the war. However, even he felt the bile rising to his neck at the carnage in front of him.

Everywhere he stepped there were corpses collapsed in pools of blood. The most frightening thing was that each one of them had only one silt on their throat - it was obviously the work of a very experienced and bloody assassin.

The Flash bent over and threw up again.

"I'm sorry, John. I-I just can't. I need to get away from this place!"

Suddenly, Martian Manhunter's voice rang in their minds:

 ** _"Green Lantern, Flash, do you hear me?"_**

"Yes/Yeah."

 ** _"The subject is about to reach you! Proceed with maximum caution!"_**

"What about the big guy?" the Flash asked weekly.

 ** _"Superman has been defeated. Apparently his arms have also been paralyzed."_**

"WHAT?" Green Lantern and Flash cried out incredulously at the same time.

Martian Manhunter didn't get to say anything else as a silhouette appeared in their field of view.

Running at full speed towards the two superheroes, Naruto raised up one of the two red bone daggers in his hands.

 _*swish*_

One dagger split the air as it was thrown towards the hovering Green Lantern.

A foreboding feeling came over John and he chose to dodge the crimson dagger instead of creating a construct to defend against it. He managed to dodge it, but just barely.

Green Lantern's and Flash's teamwork was nothing if not splendid. After John dodged the red bone dagger, in the next instant, Flash seemingly teleported in front of Naruto and punched.

 _*boom*_

A deafening explosion rocked the entire prison and Flash was blown away with burns all over his body.

"Flash!" Green Lantern cried out in panic. He hurriedly looked around, but there was no sign of the attacker.

What John was not aware of the bone dagger that he had dodged was none other than Naruto that had Henged himself.

Naruto was a shinobi. In this life he was even more of a shinobi than he had ever been in his past.

And a shinobi never fights fair or head-on against a stronger opponent. He knew that head-on Superman could destroy even 5 of him at the same time. Naruto knew that the Flash and Green Lantern were also more powerful than him. Because of that, he relied on the element of surprise and trickery to get away. The fact that the Justice League didn't know of his abilities had been their greatest mistake and his greatest advantage because each one of his moves, in their eyes, was like a hidden ace.

 _Scene break_

"J'onn what's the situation?" Batman asked. His voice betrayed his anxiety. Naruto may not be a heavyweight in terms of strength, agility and so on but he was extremely shrewd. Extremely dangerous. Batman had experienced that first-hand.

 _"Superman has been defeated. He is now at the Watchtower. I contacted Doctor Fate and asked for his help."_

"What happened?"

 _"Superman was cut. Some kind of mystical energy paralyzed his arms. You know that he is vulnerable against magic."_

With all his mental fortitude, Batman could not stop himself from being shocked.

 _'Not just cut, he was paralyzed?!'_

Batman felt chills go down his back when he thought of what Naruto told him half a year ago. The remnant of chakra residing on spinal cord being able to paralyze him had, in fact, not been a bluff.

J'onn continued:

 _"Green Lantern and Flash were fooled. Flash was also grievously injured when what looked like a clone of the boy exploded upon being hit."_

"How did he escape from Green Lantern?" Batman asked urgently. The more information they got about Naruto, the better their chances to capture him.

 _"Green Lantern doesn't know."_

Batman began to pace back and forth in front of the large screen in the Batcave.

"Is there nobody else left to go after him?" Batman asked.

 _"Princess Diana left on a trip to Themyscira a few days ago. The rest... I don't think any of them are powerful enough to stop him. Half of our stronger members have already been either defeated or outsmarted."_

"What about Shazam?"

 _"Shazam is at scho-"_

Martian Manhunter's words suddenly halted. His red eyes glowed for a moment and then his spoke urgently. _"Shazam just engaged the target."_

Batman urged:

"Tell him to keep the distance until you finish relaying him all the intel we have acquired!"

 _Scene break_

Naruto escaped the asylum's premises and started to run towards the city at his fastest speed. The Asylum was located at the outskirts of the city but given the size of Gotham, it was quite far. Just as Naruto was about to enter the area dominated by tall towers and skyscrapers, a silhouette flashed in front of him, blocking his way.

It was red-costumed man, with a short white cloak. He was tall and muscular. It was none other than Captain Marvel, also known as Shazam.

Naruto gripped his two bone daggers hard. One of the worst situations possible happened: unlike Superman, Shazam didn't have any glaring weakness. He was said to be as powerful as Superman, as fast as the Flash and even more resilient than the Man-of-Steel. His only glaring weakness was that his martial arts were crap, but with that kind of body, power and speed, it was most of the time irrelevant.

Shazam stood hovering in mid air in front of Naruto. Instead of attacking, it looked as though he was deeply buried in his thoughts. Obviously, Martian Manhunter was instructing him about Naruto's peculiar abilities. And Naruto guessed as much. He knew that the Martian was a telepath. He ganshed his teeth. His chances of escaping just went down by half now that Shazam knew what he was capable of.

Seeing Shazam apparently not paying attention, Naruto burst towards him. During the half a year since the fight against Batman, Naruto focused intensively on increasing his strength and agility. The weight of his bones no longer posed a problem for his agility.

Naruto punched with all of his strength. He had been expecting to see the cloaked hero be blown away by the force of his punch, but to his stupor, Shazam barely backed away a few feet. He raised an eyebrow mockingly at the blond.

"Was that supposed to hurt? My grandma hits harder than you!"

Shazam lifted his fist and punched. Although he had been expecting it, when the teenager in front of him exploded he was still more than a little surprised.

Using the screen caused by the smoke of the explosion, Naruto created 2 ordinary shadow clones and then launched 10 bone projectiles from his fingers. The chance made that one of them nearly hit Shazam in the eye. He cried out in pain. But then, he rushed towards the general direction where he thought Naruto was.

Shazam appeared in front of Naruto and punched explosively...only to find his fist blocked by what looked like ribs that were protruding from the boy's torso.

It was a horrifying sight.

Shazam tried to take out his fist, but Naruto's ribs locked it in place. In the split of second when Shazam hesitated not knowing what to do, Naruto's chakra heart pumped nearly all of his remaining chakra into his left leg.

At the instant he kicked, Naruto also loosened his ribs's hold on Shazam's hand.

 _*boom*_

Naruto not just delivered a devastating high-kick to Captain Marvel's chin, all the chakra accumulated in his left leg was released, bursting in that instant.

Shazam was blown back like a ragdoll. His body had yet to land when from behind, the two shadow clones Naruto made before, appeared behind Shazam, each with a kyuubified purple Rasengan in their hands.

The two purple rasengans exploded upon the impact with the back of Shazam's head and the superhero was blown away once again. He crashed into the ground, a large crater being created at the impact. He lost his consciousness.

Naruto panted in exhaustion, but a despising sneer was on his face as he rasped through the gasps of breath:

"Overconfident retards! All of them."

Naruto didn't dare to dilly-dally. After taking a breath, he burst into a mad run. The sooner he got into the city the more his chances of escaping increased.

However, he barely made 50 steps when a steel like hand grabbed him from the leg. Naruto sumbled and fell to the ground. An exhausted roar reached his ears:

"SHAZAM!"

Black lightning descended.

* * *

AN: With blood and sweat I managed to write another chapter. Be grateful peasants!

Haha. Joking aside, I really don't know when will the next chapter come. The finals are very close and besides that, I also have to go to work...Also, I live alone, which means that I have to cook, clean up after myself and so on. I really don't have any free time at all. Even this chapter and the previous one had been written while I was at work in the moments when I didn't have customers, from my smartphone. I'm telling you, it's not that easy..

Well, enough with my bitching. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry once again about the cliff, I don't have a habit of abusing of them like that. It just happened lol

 _(I'm not an English native and the chapter has not been proofread by a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	14. Chapter 14 - Conflicts

AN:

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

I made a mistake, I forgot to say that I have gotten a beta. Please, a round of cheers for **Thephantomprince**!

 **Fuyuriku** has also often helped me by pointing out what mistakes I've done every time. Thank you!

* * *

 **Chapter 14 - Conflicts. Batman's decision**

"You went too far this time, Shazam! Calling down the lightning to strike him?! Were you trying to kill him?" someone yelled in outrage. It was Superman.

"I don't want to hear that from you, Superman! Using your heat vision against him? Perhaps you're the one that was trying to kill him!" Shazam shot back sullenly and glared at Superman with the eye that was not covered by bandages.

Naruto's bone projectile that had nearly hit Shazam in the eye made half of his face become inflated. Moreover, the back of his head had a raw wound on it from the two kyuubified Rasengans that exploded into it. He felt miserable.

"My heat vision didn't hit him, I knew he would dodge!"

"Sure you did. Can you perhaps read the future?"

"Will you two cut it out? I really need to concentrate here." Doctor Fate said seriously, interrupting their argument.

A purple glow surrounded Doctor Fate's hands as he touched the dagger cuts on Superman's paralysed arms. As his hands distanced from Superman's forearms, crimson-red wisps of energy were pulled from the flesh. But when the purple glow surrounding Doctor Fate's hand touched the red energy, it was instantly corroded. The red energy was about to attack his hands next when Doctor Fate let out a low shout and jumped back instantly as a magical barrier appeared in front of him.

"This demonic energy is nothing like I have ever seen before!" Doctor Fate mumbled to himself and he let out a breath of relief when he saw the red energy stop attacking his shield and return into Superman's arms. "It's as if it is sentient!"

"Demonic energy? Just what is that kid?" Green Lantern said in frustration.

At that moment, Batman happened to enter the room.

"I wouldn't bother trying to extract that energy if I were you. It's not possible."

"And what do you suggest, Batman? Leave Superman with this arms paralyzed for life?" Green Lantern asked in irritation. "In fact, where were you when we all tried to catch that kid?"

Everyone looked at Batman in a accusatory manner. The Flash who was wrapped in bandages from head to toes and Shazam who was nearly as badly hurt as him were glaring.

Batman, however, was unperturbed.

"I was in my batcave, staying out of this, like I had been told."

"I really want to meet that guy Batman actually listens to!" Superman said starting to raise his voice. He was more than a little angry.

"You have already met him. He's the one that paralyzed your arms."

A commotion started. Hawkgirl who until then had stood silent, stepped forward, her mace cackling with electricity.

"You better start explaining yourself, Batman. As much as we all respect you, nothing would save you if you betrayed us."

The tension in the room was rising with each passing moment. Even the rest of members that were not active in the discussion and were standing on the side spectating, started to get nervous. The Justice League had rarely ever encountered such a troublesome situation. It wasn't the first time though. However, the last time they started fighting against each other had been when they had got their asses handed to them by the metahumans Lex Luthor pitted against them - the so called Injustice League...it hadn't been because of a sole person, and certainly not because of a barely 18 year old one at that.

This time it was different: this time Superman, Captain Marvel and Flash were heavily injured. Especially Superman, since there seemed to be no cure for what happened to him. And they were three of the strongest members of the League.

Through it all, Batman's demeanour remained as calm as ever. Under everyone's angry stares, he actually began to strip. The previously angry stares transformed into blank looks.

Leaving his mask and pants on, Batman only took off his black cloak and the reinforced kelvar suit protecting his torso. When his muscular chest and perfect abs came into view, a red hue coloured most of the female members' faces. But Batman turned around and his hand hand pointed at his back, tracing the lower part of his spine. There was a red scar, almost as large as half of his palm. It looked as though it was inflamed.

"Half a year ago, a new mercenary of exceptional skill and questionable allegiance popped up in Gotham seemingly out of nowhere. Although I didn't find any real evidence, various things led to me to suspect that a certain individual was that mercenary."

Batman made a slight pause. What happened back then was not something he was proud of.

"He actually managed to provoke me into attacking him... and I lost...just like the three of you lost against him today."

"Don't tell me...!" Superman said with his eyes widened when he connected Batman's loss and the inflamed scar with his own paralyzed arms.

"The same energy that paralyzed Superman's arms is lurking inside of my body, just half an inch away from my spinal cord. Uzumaki warned me: unless I want that energy to attack my spinal cord and render me a vegetable for life, I have to not cross his path in the future...Although there was the possibility for his words to have been just a bluff, I didn't want to take a meaningless risk, it's not like I'm the only person on the planet capable of apprehending him. Seeing how that red energy seems to have its own sentience, I can only say that I'm glad I had not brushed his threat aside."

There was a deathly silence in the room when Batman stopped talking. After he put back his suit on, Batman said:

"I wouldn't worry about being killed though. Uzumaki is not evil. Nor is he crazy."

"Are you even serious?" Superman shouted. "My arms are paralyzed, Flash was burned from head to toes and Shazam nearly had his head blown apart! Not to mention, over 100 people were murdered in Arkham. How is he not evil?!"

Batman was getting fed up with everyone's attitude. He raises his voice.

"Tell me, Superman, what would you do in his place?"

"What does that have to do with-" Superman tried to say, but Batman cut him off. He was now outright shouting.

"Tell me what would you have done if Supergirl here" and he pointed towards the blonde girl at Superman's right "had been murdered by someone?"

"Are you telling me that you would calmly apprehend her killer and hand him over to the authorities?"

A conflicting light shone in Superman's eyes. He stood silent.

One of the members that had not participated at the discussion until then and watched from the side lines, Green Arrow, said:

"That doesn't change the fact that the kid caused a mass-murder."

"I never said that." Batman bit back. "The interesting thing is, however, that none of the ones Uzumuaki killed in Arkham has been innocent in his eyes...after all, the Joker didn't escape out of Arkham for so many times by blowing it away, but with the help of the corrupted staff and of those who by not doing anything against it, silently let it happen."

Meanwhile, everyone was looking weirdly at Batman. They didn't understand his stance. Why was he defending a criminal's actions? They all felt apprehensive.

"What you need to understand is that he doesn't want any superheroes' death."

"From what he said when he broadcasted himself, I think the guy hates us more than a little." Flash couldn't help saying.

"Did any of you actually die? After he paralyzed Superman, why didn't he finish him off? Why didn't he kill Shazam after rendering him defenceless? Why didn't he kill me half an year ago when he stabbed a dagger in my spine?"

Flash didn't have anything to say back to that. Even Green Lantern who was very incensed at Naruto, couldn't deny Batman's words.

"Uzumaki hates superheroes, but not to the point of wanting to kill them. He hates them because he thinks that their activities are like a child's play."

A look of anger flashed on some faces.

"We risk our lives out there every day trying to keep people safe and that's what they think about us? That we're playing around?" a blonde-haired woman said in hurt voice. It was Black Canary.

But Green Arrow who stood at her side understood why some people thought like that, so he answered her, unknowingly saying the very words Batman was having on his mind:

"Imagine yourself being an ordinary, defenceless woman. And then, you see psycopaths and metahumans wreaking havoc everywhere. Sure, the Justice League is doing its best to capture them and throw them in jail... but as an ordinary human, how do you see the situation when the bad guys break out of prison and start killing again? Honestly, even to me it looks like a play of Tom & Jerry."

"Oliver!" Black Canary yelled. She was so scandalized by Green Arrows' words that she unknowingly shouted his real name.

"What are you trying to say with that? That we should start killing everyone like we please?" Supergirl yelled at him angrily.

Most of the gathered heroes began to glare at Green Arrow who raised his hands up as if to placate things:

"Hey, don't give me that look, I just told you how ordinary people see things. No need to go ballistic on me... But, does it not make you wonder? What supervillain that we had apprehended until now had stood in prison for more than a few months before breaking out of it? How many innocent lives would have been saved if not for that?"

While they were all mulling over Green Arrow words, Batman's voice broke them out of their thoughts:

"I'm withdrawing from the Justice League. It is for an indefinite period of time."

The members of the League were stunned speechless for a moment but then a chorus of cries was heard:

"WHAT?!"

"I... I need some time for myself." Batman said quietly and he headed towards the door.

"What about the boy?" Martian Manhunter asked. Through it all, he had been the most calm person in the room, choosing to not take part in the heated discussion.

"Do as you see fit. He's Justice League's responsibility, not mine." Batman answered before leaving the room.

 _Scene break_

Naruto woke up and he yawned. By habit, he tried to cover his mouth with his hand...but he couldn't. That made him aware of his situation: he was confined to what looked like a metallic wall and titanium parts were holding his arms and legs tightly strapped to the wall.

Suddenly, the memories of what happened came at the front of his mind. He cursed:

"That bastard!"

He had thought that Shazam had been knocked out for good but he had been wrong, the superhero had only been dazed. And that had cost him being struck by a black bolt of lightning. After he fell unconscious, the Justice League captured him.

Naruto grunted as he exerted his full strength. A creak was heard but that was all. In his current state Naruto couldn't use even half of his force. His body was exhausted, his chakra was exhausted too and he was terribly hungry.

Naruto then focused on using the bones in his forearms to grow and cut through the titanium cuffs but nothing happened this time either. Using his version of Dead Bone Pulse kekkei genkai required a hefty amount of chakra, something that Naruto didn't have at the moment. Moreover, for some reason, his chakra pathways all felt numb.

Seeing that any struggle was futile, Naruto didn't waste his energy any more by trying to free himself.

However, apparently, his cell was being monitored seeing as a few moments after he woke up, the sounds made by someone's steps came from behind the metallic door of the cell. Naruto became tense.

* * *

AN: I think there was someone who offered to help me with proofreading this story but as of late I have received so many pms that I can't find that specific message... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, as short as it may have been.

Once again, I'm not sure when will the next one come because of the finals. In fact I had one this morning...and I kind of fucked it. Shit. I'll need to put in more effort for the next ones.


	15. Chapter 15 - Riots

AN: I know I have finals but I found it hard to keep myself from writing a new chapter. If even I was eager to see the next chapter - and I obviously knew what was going to happen - I could only imagine how big your hype was. So I wrote a new chapter. Maybe good karma will come back at me for that and help me with my exams lol. Anyway, what everyone has been waiting to see, it's happening in this chapter. I hope you'll like it!

One more thing: five or six of my readers have asked me until now (one did it just a few hours ago) to change the pairing from _Naruto/Galatea_ to _Naruto/Wonder Woman._ What do you think about that?

I opened a new poll on my profile. I'm not necessarily saying that I'll change the pairing after over 40k words of story, but I'd like to hear your opinion. HOWEVER, if the _Naruto/Wonder Woman_ pairing gets an overwhelming number of votes, I will change it. I like both Galatea and Wonder Woman the same. Since my level of enjoyment will be the same either way, I have to focus on the enjoyment of my readers. So it's your call, guys.

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

 **"Hello"** \- Kyuubi talking

' _ **Hello'**_ – Kyuubi's thoughts

 _Some of you have pointed it out to me that due to the last few chapters the rating of the story should be changed from T to M so I did just that. T_ _hank you._

* * *

 **Chapter 15 - Riots**

"Oi, Kurama?"

 **"What do you want?"**

"You never told me..."

 **"What?"**

"...How come you have been reincarnated into this world as well?"

 **"You've never asked."**

Naruto's forehead creased.

"I'm asking you now."

The fox sniffed condescendingly.

 **"I don't feel like telling you."**

Naruto felt his eyelid twitching.

"Do you want me to come over? I'll kick your furry ass to your mother Juubi and back! I swear I'll slap you like the little bitch you are!"

 **"Tough words coming from a pipsqueak who can't even use chakra anymore."**

"Why you...!"

One week passed since Naruto finally enacted his revenge on the killer of his sister. One week since he was caught by the Justice League and thrown into the room with the tightest security in the Watchtower. One week since Naruto lost his ability to use chakra.

 _'Don't let me get my hands on you, Shazam!'_

He was seething.

 _'It was because of that bastard that I was captured and now I'm rotting in a cell. It was because of him that I can't use chakra anymore!'_

 _'Wash your neck, fucker. The day when my bone sword will slit your throat is closer than you think.'_

Naruto clenched his fists. His teeth made grating noises.

From inside Naruto's body, Kyuubi was observing his host silently. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he rather liked this new Naruto...Smart, cunning, decisive, powerful and cruel...This Naruto was everything that Kyuubi would have wanted the past Naruto to be - in Kyuubi's words, "not a happy-go-lucky idiot". If it weren't for him continuously saving that "dumbass" Naruto's hide every time, they would have both died many more times than he could count. The current Naruto, however, was different. The current Naruto was like the Dark Naruto from the past life, only not as twisted and more intelligent.

Kyuubi thought to himself:

 _ **'Having someone like him calling me**_ **partner** _ **would not be something unpleasant.'**_

He found Naruto worthy of being his equal.

 _ **'No.'**_ the fox shook his massive head. _ **'As of now it is I who is not worthy of being his partner.'**_

That was because Naruto wasn't truly crippled. It was just that Shazam's black lightning strike had clogged Naruto's meridians, making the chakra unable to properly circulate through his body.

Indeed, normally, that would mean that someone is crippled. But Naruto's case was special. He had a chakra heart. With it, he could control the flow of chakra inside his body to his will.

 **"Naruto."**

"What do you want, dipshit?"

Kyuubi felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing in anger. Maybe he didn't like this Naruto that much after all.

 **"As foul-mouthed as always."**

"Since when did that start bothering you? Anyway, what the heck you want now?"

As to prolong the dramatic effect his words would have on Naruto, Kyuubi waited for a few seconds before speaking, raising Naruto's impatience.

 **"There is a way for you to become able to use chakra again."**

If gratitude and an ecstatic mood was what Kurama had been expecting to see at Naruto...that's exactly what did Not happen:

"You shitty bastard! You've waited for an entire fucking week to finally tell me? You greedy pig! You've waited for so long just so you could hog the entirety of my chakra all for yourself, didn't you?"

"Gaaah! You annoy me so much! Just wait till you get a real body, I swear to kami I'll rip you a new asshole!" shouted Naruto at the top of his lungs, panting at the end of his screamed rant.

Kyuubi didn't retort. Despite the heavy usage of profanities, Naruto was fully right in what he said. So he let it pass, not shooting back any snide remarks in return.

 **"As you were already suspecting it, Shazam's lightning messed up your chakra pathways. But they aren't broken. They're just clogged up. If you were to focus your chakra heart on using the chakra to dig in just like the water of a river digs its way into the rock bed, I reckon you'll clean them all in less than a week."**

When Naruto kept silent as he assimilated the new information, Kyuubi spoke again.

 **"However, Naruto..."**

"Yeah?"

 **"Do not forget that we have made a deal. Do not go back on your words now that the crisis has passed."**

Naruro grumbled something intelligible but then he said.

"Don't worry. If there is something in which I am similar with my past self is that I am not liar."

A comfortable silence instilled between the two of them.

"Oy, Kyuubi."

 **"What?"**

"I was really serious. How come you reincarnated into this world? ...no, how come there are more of us here?"

"My grandfather, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had been the 3rd Hokage in my past life. Mother and father also look just like they did in the past. Also, those two creeps that challenged the dojo a year ago were none other than Maito Guy and Rock Lee."

"How come we appeared in this world?"

Kyuubi pondered on Naruto's words deeply.

 **"The Sage of the Six Paths spoke of the cycle of reincarnation...you, for example, were his son's, Ashura's reincarnation in the Elemental Nations."**

 **"My guess is that the number of souls is not as big as the number of humans that had lived and died since the beginning of time until now. The souls of the people that die are purified and after they drink Meng Po's Five Flavoured Tea of Forgetfulness they are reincarnated into the living world again." (1)**

"Can souls drink tea? What the heck?"

 **"How the hell should I know?"** Kyuubi bristled **"The old man said that after drinking that tea, the souls will permanently forget all of their past memories. Just like wiping a blackboard."**

Kyuubi growled. Even he thought that wiping out one's identity just like that...that was above any other acts of cruelty.

"Then...how come I remember everything? Also, what you said doesn't explain your reincarnation inside my body."

Kyuubi seemed to hesitate while speaking the next words:

 **"Actually, when I 'woke up', I found myself inside a toddler Mito Uzumaki...your grandmother."**

Kyuubi had anticipated Naruto's bursting with questions about his family, so, before he could start, he cut him off:

 **"Don't ask me anything about your parents... you are not ready to hear the truth about their deaths."**

Naruto's anger flared. The Fox seemed to have known what happened to his parents the whole time, yet even now he was refusing to tell him. How could Naruto not be angered?

 **"I'm cannot tell you because you're still an idiot!"**

"What did you say?!"

Kyuubi felt the urge to smack someone.

 **"Suppose I told you who was the one that killed them. What would be your next step? You'd start training like a madman and then go and try to kill him in rage. Then, what would happen. You'd get killed! That's what would happen!"**

"Oh please. I fought against the Justice League all by myself. And I'm still alive and kicking."

 **"Really? You won mostly because they underestimated you and thanks to the element of surprise. But now that the novelty of your abilities has passed, you stand no chance against them anymore. Not to mention, that none of them had fought against you with intention to kill."**

 **"Furthermore...the one you'll be facing is much stronger than the Justice League."**

Kyuubi's last sentence sobered Naruto.

 **"Trust me on this Naruto. For now, let the waters settle down. Stay low and become powerful. Let us both become truly powerful. Nothing good would come out from rushing through everything."**

 _Scene break_

While Naruto was confined in the Watchtower under the Justice League's close watch, a movement appeared within the ranks of the ordinary people.

When at two days after the Joker's death no news were heard about Naruto, the people became restless. And, in the 3rd day from the Arkham Massacre, it was one spark that ignited a roaring inferno: G. Gordon Godfrey's TV talk show.

 _Some may say that Uzumaki Naruto is a monster for killing the Joker._

 _But I say: Good Riddance!_

 _Yes, you heard me right, people! Good Riddance! For me, Uzumaki Naruto is the real hero, not Superman or say, Green Lantern. Because Uzumaki Naruto had had the balls – excuse my language - to actually do what the Justice League should have done!_

 _The question that remains, however, is:_

 _WHERE IS UZUMAKI NARUTO?_

 _Uzumaki Naruto is the only one that had the courage to rid us of a mass-murdering psychopath. And now, the Justice League captured him! God know what they are doing to him right now!_

 _Do not remain indifferent people! When a real hero finally appeared, the so-called Justice League immediately captured him!_

 _...Do you want Uzumaki's life to end just like that? Let us all take a stand against this injustice! Let us all go out in the streets and scream for our hero to be freed!_

It was a bombastic speech, filled with a clearly biased propaganda against the Justice League. No rational man would have taken it seriously. But a wise man once said 'Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups'.

G. Gordon Godfrey's speech was the spark that ignited the fire. Following his words, all the resentment of the common people against the metahumans exploded like a volcano. Large numbers of people came out in the streets shouting for Uzumaki Naruto to be freed. They wamted the Justice League to be disbanded. Other wanted the government to be changed. It was pandemonium.

But next to none of them realized that the one they were worshipping and the one they were asking to be freed was a metahuman as well and that besides killing the Joker, he had also killed over a hundred people in Arkham Asylum... and that was because Gordon Godfrey offered them a somewhat justified target for them to release their frustration and the people didn't think twice before doing it. All their pent-up anger born from realizing that they were like sheep for slaugheter in front of the supervillains was expelled in that moment.

The first day of protests happened at 3 days from the Arkham Massacre. 40 000 people came out in the streets, most of them being from Gotham, Metropolis and New York.

2nd day of protests (the 4th after the Arkham Massacre): over 100 000 people from all over the United States came out in the streets shouting and protesting for Uzumaki's release.

3rd day of protests (the 5th after the Arkham Massacre): 50 000 people had already come out even before the noon, freezing the traffic in all the great cities all over the United States. That made the police forces intervene and they forcefully suppressed the protesters.

4th day of protests (6th day after the Arkham Massacre): the police suppressing the protesters the previous day by using violence has caused an uproar in the ranks of the ordinary people. The previously relatively peaceful protests transformed into full blown riots. Compared to the mere 50 000 protesters the previous day, this time, over 600 000 people joined the riot. And they were no longer peaceful. They burned the cars of the police forces they encountered and they violently clashed with the police forces that were armed with riot shields, paralyzing sprays and rubber batons. The broke the windows of the political parties' headquarters and set their buildings on fire.

Nobody went home that night, they all continued to protest in the streets. When the morning came, in the 5th day of protests (the 7th after the Arkham Massacre) hell broke loose. The previous number of 600 000 rioters increased to 3 millions just by noon. And it was still rising. The traffic all over the United States was frozen, and the centres of the great cities began to look like warzones with the armed forces of the police on one side and the army of protesters on the other side. In that situation, the military was dispatched as well. It was one of the greatest street protest in the history of the United States.

Despite all of his advisors telling him that it would be too dangerous, the president came out in the streets of Washington. He was heavily guarded by armed special forces, but he knew - everyone knew - that in front of a few tens of thousands of enraged people, a few armed soldiers meant nothing. The president could be easily killed if the people were desire his death.

But seeing the president coming out in front of them, made the people temporarily stop their yelling. For a moment, despite there being over 40 000 protesters in front of the White House, you could even hear the sound of their breathing - this is how heavy the silence that instilled was. The people were all waiting to see what the president would say.

* * *

AN:

(1) In the Chinese mythology, Meng Po is the Lady of Forgetfulness. She brews the Five Flavoured Tea of Forgetfulness which induces a permanent amnesia on the souls that are ready to be reincarnated.

 _(I'm not an English native and this chapter has not been proofread by a beta. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made)_


	16. Chapter 16 - Prison

AN: To finish writing this chapter I had to wake up early and even skip breakfast before going to work. But I said to a few of my readers that I would update a new chapter before the end of the week and I wanted to keep my promise. I hope you like it.

 **Thr poll has been closed, Galatea had won easily.** You can see the results on my profile. Speaking of, Galatea will appear at the end of this arc - pretty soon.

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

 **"Hello"** \- Kyuubi talking

* * *

 **Chapter 16 - Prison**

A burly male cook with large and hairy arms was pouring a murky potato paste in the tin bowls on the greasy table in front of him. From time to time, large beads of sweat fell from his bushy eyebrows into the large pot on the stove.

An ordinary man would feel his stomach churning and retch at the sight. But the people waiting in line to get their food had long long since gotten accustomed to it. After all, in front of death by starvation, even the proudest man would cower.

Amongst those waiting in line also stood a blonde young man with whisker-like birth marks on his cheeks. Naruto took his bowl of potato paste and without bothering to look for a free seat, he went straight to the table in the most remote corner of the mess hall.

It was very crowded. There were only around 15 tables for the over 200 people that ate there every day. They had to huddle together up to 12-15 people at a table that was normally designed for only 8 persons. Despite that, the table Naruto was heading to was free.

What was even stranger than that was that it had always been like that.

The hall was full of men...each one of them looking more dangerous and vicious than the other. But as Naruto made his way through the tables, none of them dared to look him in the eye, lowering their heads to their bowls until he passed.

When he took a sit on one of the wooden chairs at the table, it made a sound as if it was groaning in protest at his absurd weight. That was because in spite of his slender-looking built, he weighted almost 400 pounds.

Naruto closed his eyes and circulated his chakra. One moment later, he lost his sense of smell and taste. After that, he began to eat. It felt like he was swallowing rubber but it was still better than the original taste and smell of that horrendous food.

 **"To this day, I still can't believe the shit you came up with."** a voice rumbled from within his body. It was the voice of someone whom Naruto saw as his only friend - Kyuubi.

Although he much preferred talking to Kyuubi using his voice, Naruto didn't feel like doing that while he was in the middle of a few hundred people.

 _'Well, humans are the best at adapting themselves according to the circumstances. That's why we got to the top of the food chain despite being so weak compared to other animals.'_

The amusement was clear in Kyuubi's voice when he spoke next.

 **"Yeah. Because giving yourself as an example for humans is truly legitimate."**

Naruto didn't make a rebuttal. Kyuubi' barb was not unfounded. While not completely different than a human, Naruto could no longer consider himself one. Not after a certain thing happened.

 **"Anyway, how long do you intend on keeping staying here?"**

 _'We're on an island, in the middle of the freaking Pacific Ocean, you dumbass. It has to be the 100th time I'm telling you this. Although I can walk on water, I don't have nearly enough chakra to cross an ocean. Even for a jinchuuriki from my past life it would would be impossible to do it.'_

After spending close to 3 years of constantly bantering with his host, Kyuubi has long since became immune to his insults. In fact, after a while - although he would never admit it - it was almost endearing for the blonde to call him "idiot" after Kyuubi railed him up.

 **"Sigh, you should've just taken the chance last year when those winged aliens invaded the Earth."**

As he was conversing with Kyuubi, Naruto finished eating - he never took more than a minute to finish it. The moment he stepped outside the mess hall, a luxuriant tropical forest came into view. Naruto's silhouette blurred out of view. The next moment, he appeared a few hundred feet away, at the beach. He cupped some of the seawater and began to wash his mouth thoroughly, cleaning it of the remains of that foul tasting food. Once done with that, his sense of smell and taste returned. Although it was still not pleasant, the taste of seawater was twenty times better than that of the food he ate every day.

He went to the trees bordering the beach and sat on the ground at their shade.

"I'd rather live as a sparrow, free, than as as a parrot in a golden cage. Had I agreed to help the government with the Thanagarian Invasion, I would've have become their toy. Their dog."

 **"Admirable feelings. But last time I checked you're still in a cage...just not golden, but full of sweaty and smelly men."** Kyuubi snickered. His snickers transformed into a loud laughter when he repeated his own joke to himself once again.

"Shut up!"

Naruto's snapping only made Kyuubi laugh harder.

Two years have passed since Naruto killed the Joker and the people rioted. At the people's request, Naruto was spared from being sentenced to death, but a certain individual - General Danzo - made sure his life in prison would not be too comfortable: he was thrown into a secret prison of the government...a prison for metahumans.

This prison was special from many points of view. For one, it was located on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Second - and the strangest of them all - there were no guards. The prisoners were left all by themselves, apparently, nobody caring for their life/death.

That didn't mean there were no rules there. One of the prisoners on the island had the government's backing. He was like a local tyrant and everyone had to listen to him - and that's because he could decide other prisoners' life and death. Not outright, but there were loopholes...some rather glaring ones at that: although killing was forbidden, there was one situation when it was not: once a month, any prisoner had the right to challenge someone to a life-and-death fight. That was the way all the grudges and disputes were solved in this prison...and this is why the other prisoners feared Naruto so much, with the head of the prison being no different.

 _Scene break_

Naruto's hands were in a tiger seal while he was trying to manipulate the lightning that crackled all over his body.

 **"You're soo~ stupid. How many times did I tell you that the tiger seal is famous for being specific to fire techniques?"**

A vein on Naruto's forehead began to throb dangerously.

"Would it freaking hurt you to just shut the hell up while I'm training? If you know better handseals, tell me!" Naruto yelled at Kyuubi which only made the fox laugh mockingly.

For the last 2 years, while he was in prison, Naruto had been trying to train in elemental techniques. But a serious problem had arisen after cleaning his clogged chakra pathways: no matter what series of handseals he performed, the desired result didn't come out. Whether it was a wind technique that he wanted to cast, or a fire technique, or any other, what came out every time, was the same thing: lightning...and a black coloured one at that.

Basically being striken by the bolt of black lightning that Shazam had called forth had destroyed any of the chakra affinities Naruto might have had.

For a few good weeks, Naruto's anger knew no limits...atnd it was during that time that he instilled terror into the other prisoners on the island.

But after a while he eventually become resigned. He accepted the situation and tried to make the most of it...only for another problem to appear: he knew no lightning technique from his past life. Before getting the six paths sage mode, in his past life, Naruto had not had a lightning affinity. He had also not memorized any lightning techniques beside Kakashi-sensei's Raikiri whom he knew only because of having seen it being performed by said jounin countless times...and Kyuubi was definitely of no help this time either. Apparently, the fox knew nothing more than Naruto did when it came to the handseals necessary for lightning jutsus.

In a rare moment of seriousness, Kyuubi spoke to Naruto while he was struggling to shape the lightning in something like a hound and make it hit the target.

 **"Naruto, I have an idea."**

"What is it this time?" Naruto snapped at him when his lightning hound dissipated into the air at just a few moments after being casted.

 **"I know you managed to learn the trademark technique of your past life's sensei, and that you even improved its destructive ability...or it is because your lightning is black? Anyway, what if instead of trying to manipulate the lightning outside of your body, you'd do it the other way around?"**

Naruto let himself sit on the ground as he pondered at Kyuubi's surprisingly interesting idea. When Kyuubi's words truly sank in, Naruto felt as if he had an epiphany.

"Why didn't I think of that before?!" he said as he punched his own thigh. He felt like slapping himself.

"Say, Kurama, do you remember the reanimated 3rd Raikage that I fought before? That freak ate a full powered Rasenshuriken face first and he only got some scratches here and there - and that while wind is the counter element of lightning and while Rasenshuriken is the strongest wind technique ever created...just think of how powerful his lightning armour jutsu must have been!"

 **"Erm, that's not what I had mind... Perhaps I also didn't word it out correctly.."**

Naruto had jumped up to his feet in excitement while talking but at Kyuubi's words, he sat back on the ground, deflated.

 **"Oi, oi! I didn't say your idea is crappy, so stop it with that shitty sulking face. Just try out this first, and then we'll try your idea too: gather your black lightning into your fist and the punch...there, to your left side, at 400 feet away, there's a cliff. Try punching it with your fist encased in black lightning."**

Naruto jumped up to his feet and his body blurred out of existence, only to rematerialize in an instant at 400 hundred feet away. It was as though he teleported. When he got in front of the cliff wall, black lightning coated his right hand and he punched.

The sound of a small explosion was heard and a car-sized indentation appeared into the cliff, the rock having been grinded to dust by the black lightning.

Naruto whistled in appreciation. Probably only a Kyuubified Rasengan could possibly deal such a damage.

But Kyuubi was not pleased with the result yet.

 **"Oi, Naruto. Try it differently this time: gather lightning into your fist again, BUT at the point of impact, discharge it through your knuckles instantly."**

Naruto did as told, but this time, instead of an explosion, a grunt of pain was heard.

"Gah, I think I released it too early!" he complained while rubbing his now red hand.

Gathering black lightning into his fist again, Naruto punched. Again, again, and again. The skin on his fist began to peel off by the time he punched for the 10th time.

As he was preparing for his 11th punch, his concentration became so intense that Naruto lost his sense of self. Naruto's previously blue eyes morphed into red slits and then, a weird feeling came over him. A feeling that he had felt for only two other times in his life before: when he had cut the bullets shot at him by the gatekeeper of Arkham Asylum and during his fight with Superman. In that moment, the red eyes that were in the form of slits, dilated. More precisely, his pupils were the ones that dilated to the point that they looked like full moons. When that happened, Naruto's perception changed: everything seemed to have slowed down in his eyes, his very fast punch looking as if it had been thrown at a snail's pace. He saw his fist approaching the cliff and when it was at half an inch from impacting the rock, he willed his black lightning to burst.

*BOOM*

A deafening explosion burst and Naruto was flung into the ocean like a broken kite by the aftershocks.

"Fuck! Fuck! What did I do wrong this fucking time?!" Naruto yelled to the heavens enraged when he climbed up on the surface of the water.

 **"Naruto.."** came Kyuubi's weary call.

"I'm not in the mood for your bullshit this time, Kurama." Naruto said, nearly growling at him like an animal.

 **"Just look at the cliff."**

"Where did you see a cliff, are you a retard?!"

 **"That's exactly the point, you dumbfuck. There's no cliff!"** Kyuubi yelled back at him in the same foul-mouthed manner like Naruto.

The fox's words hit home this time. From atop the ocean, Naruto scanned the shore. He finally realised the meaning of Kyuubi's words. Right in front of him, there should have been 4-story block sized cliff. But now, only a few scattered pieces of rock remained. He gasped in disbelief at his own feat.

"...You've got to be shitting me!"

* * *

AN: Those of you that had watched Prison Break tv series most likely recognized where did I get my inspiration for the prison.

Erm..while this chapter wasn't rich in events, the next chapter will be more...awesome, for the lack of a better word. Or 'brilliant' if you're a fan of British English.

The thing is that I recommend you to watch "Undisputed 3". It's probably the best fightning movie I've ever watched. Anyway, watching this movie is basically the best spoiler you could get for what is going to happen in the rest of this admittedly short arc of the story.

And finally, I think that by now you have realized that Naruto's eyes could be considered a doujutsu. Waiting for your speculations in the reviews xD

PS: I think someone offered to be my beta at some point but I have a lot of pms and no access to wifi for long periods, so I couldn't find the specific message. Sorry

 _(I'm not an English native and this chapter has not been proofread by a beta. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made)_


	17. Chapter 17

AN: As I promised in the last chapter's ending AN, this chapter is...badass af. At least I think so. I'm eager to hear your opinions after you finish reading it hehe.

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

 **"Hello"** \- Kyuubi talking

 _"Hello" -_ Naruto's mental projection

* * *

 **Chapter 17 - Dance of the Seedling Fern**

A little over a week passed since, with Kyuubi's help, Naruto got a grasp on how to more efficiently use his black lightning. After these few days of constant training, he could successfully discharge the lightning through his fist 8 out of 10 times. The problem he was encountering though, was not the chakra exhaustion but the fact that he didn't have anything left to destroy. Naruto felt incredulous at the mere idea.

He was currently washing his ragged clothes into the water of the sea when the noise made by 4 helicopters flying above the island reached his ears.

 _'Did something happen? They don't normally come more than once at two weeks to bring supplies and, usually, there are just two.'_

But he shrugged it off. He was just mildly curious, he didn't care to the extent of actually going over to see it by himself.

However, half an hour later, he felt a presence stealthily approaching him. As though he had not noticed anything, Naruto bent down and grabbed one of the small stones from the sand at the shore and without even needing to look back and take aim, he threw it. The nail-sized stone all of sudden started to cackle with black lightning and when it hit its target, the tall palm tree burst into countless splinters, as though it had been a hand grenade that exploded there.

The splinters coming from the trunk of the tree were shot everywhere and because of that, a new silhouette came out into view, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Very useful ability you've got there." Naruto said as he turned around and glanced at the one that had been trying to sneak on him. It was a plump teen, with two large front teeth and beady moist black eyes. He gave Naruto the feeling of a bleeding rat. Oh, yes, one of the splinters that were shot because of the explosion was deeply buried into his right side, just below the liver.

Uncaring of how badly the rat-like metahuman in front of him was bleeding, Naruto continued:

"I know how you tried to sneak on me - you have the ability to turn invisible. Pretty neat if you ask me...However, how the hell did you find me?"

The fatty looked at Naruto, a feeling of dread enveloping him. He didn't dare to hide anything.

"I-It was my sense of smell."

"Heeh~" Naruto voiced out mildly impressed.

"Well, your reason for trying to spy on me... come on, spit it out... Depending on what you say, you might actually get to live."

Naruto spoke with a relaxed tone, his face looking as though he was talking about the weather outside, not about whether he was going to kill someone or not. But the black lightning sparks that began to dance around the fingers of his right hand made the fatty feel the chills go down his spine.

 _Scene break_

As the 4 military helicopters landed on the island, most of the prisoners gathered at the scene. They were thinking about the same things as Naruto - usually, the helicopters came on the island only twice every month to bring the supplies and it was just two of them, not four. Was somebody going to get taken away?

In front of everyone's stares, the doors of the helicopters opened at the same time and nearly 30 fully armed special forces operatives jumped on the ground, with their weapons pointed at the surrounding metahumans in a threatening manner.

Everyone stepped back cautiously. Although not few were the ones who had a physic that could withstand bullets, the prisoners knew better than underestimating them. Because they were aware that the bullets these special ops used were not ordinary.

A few moments later, a bald but young, tall and well-built person stepped out of one of the helicopters elegantly. He was dressed in an expensive black suit and black shades were protecting his eyes from the blinding rays of the tropical sun.

The man took off his sunglasses and smirked.

"Hello everyone! I believe most of you have heard at least once of the name: Lex Luthor."

Nobody seemed to react to his arrogant introduction but after a few moments, a burly prisoner that had 4 muscular arms asked in a mocking voice:

"Last time I heard you bought an island in the Caribbeans. What made your illustrious ass come to this dump?"

Lex Luthor didn't bat an eye at the 4-armed man's mocking words. He had never expected to receive respect from the inhabitants of this island. They were some of the worst criminals in the United States of America, most of them being of that kind that could not be bought with just money alone. Therefore, Lex Luthor's assets were equal to garbage in their eyes.

Because of that reason, Lex Luthor came with something different. Something that everyone on the island longed for.

Lex Luthor spread his arms in a grand fashion:

"I'm here to offer you a deal. I came here to give you freedom!"

One of the prisoners couldn't help starting to chuckle:

"And what do you want in return, oh Messiah?"

The rest burst into loud laughter.

"Are you trying to convert us to a new religion? Because I'll treat you as my god as long as I get out of this hellhole."

"Heil Luthor!"

"May the gods give you hair!"

Everyone began to laugh uproariously and started to jeer at him.

"Enough!"

A shout was suddenly heard and the silence was instilled in an instant. It came from a gigantic looking black man. He stood at 8 feet tall and his body was packed with iron-like bulging muscles. He was the head of the prison's right-hand henchman and one of the most powerful metahumans on the island.

When the silence instilled, the giant black man asked Luthor with his deep, rumbling voice.

"What would you want from us in exchange for freedom? And what kind of freedom is that?"

Lex Luthor recollected himself and dressed his voice before speaking:

"This deal is just for one person. For the most powerful man among you. It doesn't matter whether if your ability is - say - poisoning, invisibility or controlling the fire. I only care for the most powerful."

Lex Luthor's words were like a cold shower for the prisoners. 90% of them could already kiss goodbye their chance to be free. Because although they were powerful and vicious in their own right, there were a few monster-like existences against whom they simply stood no chance.

Lex Luthor noticed the changing of their mood and to his disbelief - and then elation when he realized the implications - he noticed that even the immensely powerful-looking giant metahuman had a deflated expression on his face.

 _'Are there actually other metahumans here that are stronger than this monstrosity of a man? He looks like he could chew on steel and complain of having some crumbs stuck between his teeth.'_

Just when Luthor was about to make another call, the over 200 hundred metahumans in front of him hurriedly parted from the middle as the Red Sea did in front of Moses.

Through the middle, a 20-year-old man began to walk towards the helicopters.

Lex Luthor's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of the person in front of him: spiky blond hair that fell to his shoulders and looked like the mane of a lion, 3 pairs of whisker-like marks on his cheeks and red-tinted blue eyes. His body was on the slender side, but given the deep footprints he left in the sand, Lex Luthor understood that he must have weighed well over 400 pounds.

 _'Uzumaki Naruto! What in the world is he doing here?'_

Nobody aside from General Danzo knew which was the exact location where Naruto had been imprisoned. Lex Luthor reckoned that the general had wanted to somehow brainwash Naruto and make him his personal weapon. It wasn't like it would be the first time he did something like that. Long story short, Lex Luthor had not been aware of Naruto's presence on the island. But now that he saw him, Lex Luthor could only feel like kissing Lady Luck's hands in gratitude.

However, Luthor's smile stiffened when Naruto seemed to ignore the special operatives surrounding him and kept advancing towards him.

"Halt!" the leader of the special ops shouted and the entire squad aimed their weapons at him, Naruto's forehead being now covered in red dots.

Naruto stopped, but there was a mocking smile on his face when he saw some of the soldiers' weapons trembling lightly. Apparently, Lex Luthor wasn't the only one that recognized him. It wasn't every day that anyone broadcasted himself torturing someone to death over the entire USA and it wasn't an everyday occurrence for someone to murder over 100 people in cold blood, in less than twenty minutes.

"There is no need to look any further. I'm the most powerful on this island."

His words reeked of arrogance but nobody dared to refute his words. Because he was one of those figures that could back up his arrogance, he had the strength to do so.

"So tell me" Naruto continued "what exactly is your deal? Regardless of how many connections you have, it is very hard for you to get a death row prisoner like us freed. What is that I need to do in exchange?"

Lex Luthor didn't dare speak with the same haughty air as before. The existence in front of him had fought by himself against the Justice League's strongest...he had defeated Superman, Lex Luthor's ultimate enemy. Lex Luthor was not the kind to act like an idiot and poke with a stick at the tiger.

"Actually it is nothing as obscure as you might think." the businessman said, "Key-figures from the most powerful countries all over the planet had created something similar to a contest...and there are enormous amounts of money involved, even for someone as wealthy as me."

"This contest consist of life and death fights in a cage amongst death-row prisoners, the most powerful metahumans from the following 6 countries: USA, Russia, China, Brazil, Indonesia and Germany. The winner of this tournament not only gets exonerated regardless of his previous crimes but also 10% of the money...and that is a number of 10 digits."

At his words, a deathly silence instilled amongst the metahumans. For a few moments, nobody made a sound. But then, without warning, the giant black metahuman together with the head of the prisoners screamed at the same time and lunged towards the seemingly unsuspecting Naruto.

When the rest of the prisoners saw the giant black man jumping towards Naruto with a battle cry and the head of the prisoners - a rather scrawny and short man - with his long and green claw-like nails slashing at his back, like a one-man-army, they all lunged towards him as well. Naruto was considered the strongest prisoner on the island, but in front of over 200 vicious metahumans he would not stand a chance...and if the strongest were to die, wouldn't that increase the chances for the rest of them to be chosen by Lex Luthor?

When it came to getting the opportunity to be freed and then also receive a sum of at least 10 billion dollars, even the psychopaths normally not interested in money were rendered crazy with greed.

Before the giant and the head of the prisoners even jumped, Kyuubi alerted Naruto:

 **"That ape-sized black bastard is going to attack you... wait! The head of the prisoners will do it as well... Oh crap. Careful, Naruto, they are all going to gang up on you. Run!"**

Kyuubi's voice sounded a little panicky.

 _"So fortunate that you still have your Negative Emotion Sensing... but run? You've got to be kidding me."_

 **"Are you a retard? What could you possibly do now? Run the fuck away, you stupid shit or we're both going to die!"**

 _"Both?"_ Naruto scoffed and he mentally raised an eyebrow _. "You can always escape in your spectral form and go posses some other metahuman."_

When he replied, Kyuubi was filled with anger

 **"Who the fuck do you think I am? Do you think I am a flimsy human that would cower away and abandon you just like that? Huh?!"**

Then, his voice became unprecedentedly serious, and his following words had an air of solemnity.

 **"This is not like in our past life... You are not my jailor. We are not enemies anymore. You are my partner. If you live, I live. If you die, I die. You are my friend, Naruto."**

Their conversation was, of course, mental, and it happened at a much faster pace than the events from reality. When Kyuubi finished his words, the giant man just kicked the ground, lunging towards Naruto.

 _"What's with this stupid chick-flick moment? Stupid fox!"_

Naruto shot back aggressively as to hide his emotions and that his eyes were beginning to water. He had never expected Kyuubi of all the beings to say those words.

But then, his mental projection that stood in front of Kyuubi inside his mindscape gained a ferocious smile on his face.

 _"This isn't the last moment of our lives, Kurama... I will show you... I will show you what have I been doing for these 2 years while you had your beauty sleep."_

Kyuubi's so-called "beauty sleep" was, in fact, a period of slumber that took place every time when the demon fox ingested Naruto's chakra. In that time Kyuubi ceased all of his body's functions except for those necessary to stay alive, focusing on converting Naruto's chakra into his own. It lasted sometimes even up to 3-4 days. So Naruto had had plenty of time to continue with his own training.

Naruto lowered himself on one knee and a soft blue aura began to glow around his entire body. Due to the enormous amount of chakra he was pumping in, his chakra heart began to throb dangerously, eliciting sharp bursts of pain inside his dantian. But Naruto was unrelenting. He squeezed off every drop of chakra inside his body.

 _"I will show you, Kurama.."_ Naruto said _, "I will show what is going to happen to everyone in the world that will ever get in our way..."_

Still kneeling, he punched the ground explosively.

For a moment nothing happened. The giant black metahuman was only two feet away from him, in mid-air, just about to slam into him with his full force. Similarly, the head of the prison's obviously poisonous claws were also just about to bury themselves into his back...when it happened:

"AARGH!"

A collective scream of despair. Sounds of bodies being impaled or dismembered and the sick noises made by the blood splattering into the air... it was carnage.

Everything was white...and crimson red. The previously lush tropical forest that covered the island seemed to have disappeared. A new forest had appeared, a white forest had swallowed the green.

It was a forest of white bones, painted with the crimson blood coming from the mangled corpses of the metahumans.

* * *

AN: to better understand the scene, rewatch the end of the fight between Gaara/Rock Lee vs Kimimaro Kaguya. Kimimaro won with that last move - Dance of the Seedling Fern, only dying in the next moment because of his terminal illness.

Of course, Kimimaro was even capable of becoming one with the bone forest and pop out from any of the gigantic bones, but Naruto is still not quite at that level.

 _(I'm not an English native and this chapter has not been proofread by a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made)_


	18. Chapter 18 - Call at Arms

AN: I have updated all of my stories this week, all of them besides Absolute Choice. Before writing for others, I will update that one first. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter!

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 18 – Call at Arms**

A burly silhouette was running through the side alleys of the city, in hopes of getting rid of his pursuer. An expression of desperation was distorting his face as he thought of who was the one that was on his tail.

Suddenly, a bullwhip wrapped around one of his legs. The man lost his balance and crashed on the ground, tumbling. But his adrenaline-filled body barely felt the pain. He pushed with his hands against the ground, trying to lift himself up. But then, a slender leg kicked his hands from under him, making him collapse face-first into the asphalt again.

The man tried once again to lift himself up, but then, a sharp heel buried itself into his right hand.

"Aargh!"

A scream of pain broke the silence of the night. Then, a sassy voice followed by a seductive giggle were heard:

"Fufu. Have you not realized the futility of your actions, yet?"

Her words barely finished, when a dark-cloaked silhouette came into view.

"Good job, Catwoman." came his distorted voice.

"I told you to call me Kitty!" the woman pouted cutely and the newly-arrived man had to turn his eyes to the side, in order to not fall prey to her eyes.

Batman - he was the newly arrived man - came near the collapsed man and began to speak.

"Sean Johnson. 45 years old, divorced. No children. Having just finished 20 years in prison for murder and armed robbery... It seems that spending 20 years in prison was not enough to make a proper American citizen out of you...I wonder what would work..." Batman said and trailed off as he took off one of the two belts at his midsection, belt which straightened out upon being taken off and morphed into a sword.

The burly man who until then stood petrified, silent, suddenly began to scream for mercy.

"Please! No, please! That was supposed to be the last time! I swear to god, please don't do this! I'm begging you!"

Hearing the man's desperate pleas for mercy would move even the coldest hearts. And Batman and Catwoman would have faltered as well had this been the first time they witnessed a scene like that. Unfortunately for the murderer at their feet, though, they had been doing this together for the past two years. There was no room for mercy in their hearts anymore...not when it came to those that could not be redeemed.

"So this was supposed to be the last time you were going to kill people in order to get rich, heh? How convenient!" Catwoman spoke coldly. No hint of sassiness could be found in her voice this time around.

She turned toward Batman and asked:

"Whose turn is today?"

"My turn." Batman replied. "You crushed that rapist's genitals last night."

With that, Batman looked at the criminal that was now crying like a little schoolgirl on the ground. It was no secret how cruel Batman and his partner have become during the last 2 years. But even so, there still were some criminals that thought that they would manage to get away with their crimes. The burly man shaking and crying on the ground had been one of those people before.

The light of the lampposts glinted into the blade of the sword when it was brandished. Two stomach-churning sounds were heard and howls of agony followed. The criminal's two arms had been removed from his elbows.

 _Scene break_

Batman rubbed at his eyes tiredly.

 _'Another sleepless night.'_ he thought.

He looked at his right, to the one that was clinging onto his arm as if it were a teddy bear. He brought his callused and heavy hand to her face and gently caressed her soft cheek.

"I don't think I could have done all these things without having you by my side.." Batman muttered softly and planted a kiss on the woman's forehead.

Long eyelashes fluttered open and a pair of green eyes met Bruce Wayne's blue ones.

"Can't sleep again?"

He didn't answer as it was obvious. Selina lifted herself up, above him. She cradled his head with her arms and pushed it into her voluminous chest. Bruce Wayne let his head drown in her softness and closed his eyes at the sensation of his lover's hands caressing his hair.

"Do you ever regret becoming my partner? Becoming mine?" Batman asked.

Selina's hands stopped. Only a few short seconds passed until she spoke again, but for Bruce, it felt like an eternity. Anxiety began to clench at his heart and he unconsciously gripped his arms tighter around her, burying his face deeper into her chest.

"Bruce, I can't breathe." Selina lightly admonished. She didn't tell him that he was actually hurting her. She had never seen him being so vulnerable before. It reminded her of the fact that he was Bruce Wayne...that she had fallen in love not just with his Batman persona, but with Bruce Wayne too.

Selina tightened her arms around his head and whispered:

"Remember when that boy Uzumaki almost killed you?"

Nobody likes being remembered of his failures, but Batman acknowledged her words with a soft grunt.

"Back then, I really thought you were going die...that he was going to kill you. I-.." Selina's voice quivered.

"You never know how much you cared about someone until you lose them... It was then that I realized that losing you would...it was then that I realized that I had fallen in love with you."

And it was true, when Batman confronted Naruto 3 years before and was stabbed into the spine with his bone dagger, it was only Catwoman's cries that stopped Naruto from killing him. It was her begging that convinced the bone user to spare Batman's life - at least that is what Batman thought.

"I'm not saying that what we've done for the past two years was an enjoyable thing... no sane man or woman would say that after maiming so many people."

"But I don't regret being with you, Bruce. I've never regretted it. Not even once."

For a few moments not a sound was heard.

"Why?" came Bruce's voice, choking with emotion.

A pure smile marred Selina's face, instead of the usual seductive one, when she said:

"Is it not obvious? Because I love you, dumbo!"

Bruce couldn't help himself. Stretching his neck to reach her, he clashed his lips against her in a kiss filled with passion and love. What his words failed to deliver, the kiss more than managed to do it instead.

But suddenly, a startling sound of an alarm going off was heard.

A greatly annoyed Batman and Catwoman hurriedly jumped out of their bed. From the top of the bed, Batman took out an electric baton and, seemingly out of nowhere, Catwoman also grabbed an exquisite looking silver revolver.

"There is only one person that knows of this place." Batman said grimly. "Are the kryptonite bullets loaded?"

Catwoman nodded in agreement. She felt inwardly nervous but at the sight of the calm and composed Batman, she felt herself relax a little.

As if sensing her restless mood, Bruce turned towards her and placed a quick, comforting kiss on her cheek.

"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to you as long as I am with you. Even more than so while we are in this room." Batman said confidently.

That's because he had long prepared for the eventuality where Superman would try to bust into his home - his new home as he had stopped living at his manor 2 years before. Planted all over the walls of the room were small tubes that would expel large amounts of paralyzing gas at a simple voice command of his. Batman knew that Kryptonite and magic were not the only weaknesses of the Man of Steel - lethal gases were as well.

The door of their large bedroom was opened rather gently and a blue-clad muscular figure stepped in. Seeing the baton cackling with electricity in Bruce Wayne's hands and the revolver in Selina Kyle's hands pointed at him, he said:

"Is this how old friends greet each other?"

"I don't have friends." Batman stated flatly. "And friends don't break into each other's homes in the thick of the night."

A tense silence instilled between the three of them.

Ever since Batman left the Justice League two years before, the relationship between the Dark Knight and the rest of the League became tense, that being especially the case when it came to Superman.

"What are you here for, Superman? From our last confrontation you should have understood that even if I'm just a human, I have more than enough ways to hold my own against you."

Superman's face was scrunched by a frown at the memory. After the Uzumaki boy was imprisoned, Batman's behaviour changed radically...he became an extremist. Almost fanatic with cruelly punishing the criminals. And because of that, a serious conflict arose between the two of them. But the fact that Batman had yet to kill anyone and that many of the League's members were not against Batman's new methods - after all, in Gotham (of all the places in the world) the police department was facing the problem of not having anything to do due to there being no criminals anymore - all these things made their conflict remain unsolved. And although Superman managed, in the end, to corner Batman, Wonder Woman's intervention turned the tables.

 _'I guess I should have seen that coming back then.'_ Superman silently mused. Wonder Woman was an Amazon before anything else...and Amazons never showed mercy to their enemies. It was no wonder that the Princess of the Amazons would find Batman's new violent methods agreeable.

"I am not stupid enough to underestimate you, Bruce." Superman said. "Of all the people I've met until now, you're definitely the most dangerous."

"Cut the chase." Batman said sharply.

"May I use your computer?"

Batman nodded at Superman and followed him with his eyes as the red-cloaked hero went to the computer in the room and inserted a disc. The large screen was lit up and the image of an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean appeared.

"It's a footage that J'onn stumbled upon coincidentally while doing a routine check over the data gathered at the Watchtower. One of the satellites showed two disturbing images."

At first, there was nothing wrong with the image relayed on the screen: a rather ordinary island, covered by a tropical forest. But when the next picture appeared, 4/5 of island's appearance was completely changed. The previously green coloured island was now covered by a white colour.

"When he saw it, he thought that it was worth investigating...a tropical island doesn't just become white over night..."

"Green Lantern and Hawkwoman were on duty that day, so they were sent at the scene.."

The screen flickered and a new image appeared. At the sight in front of them, Batman's face became dark and Catwoman paled.

Tree-sized gigantic bones protruded from the ground and dozens of corpses were impaled on them. Arms, legs, blood and gore were splattered everywhere.

"It was a carnage..." Superman said grimly. "From the information J'onn managed to dig out, the island used to be a secret facility serving as a prison for metahumans..."

"Are those bones?" Batman asked, almost inwardly praying that his fears would not be proved to be true.

"Yes." Superman nodded. "And a simple DNA test confirmed the identity of the one that used them - Uzumaki Naruto."

Silence hung in the air.

"What does that have to do with me? Last time I checked, a torturer wasn't welcomed amongst the Leagues' ranks - your words, not mine."

Superman looked like he was having trouble finding the right words.

"Uzumaki Naruto...he had killed over 200 metahumans, presumably in an instant... I don't know anyone that's powerful enough to do such a deed. Most of them were, after all, very powerful, death-row metahumans. Not even someone like Darkseid would be able to pull off something like this in an instant."

"Again, what does that have to do with me?" Batman stressed.

"You know very well that Lex Luthor has always wanted to break the Justice League.." Superman said.

"Don't tell me-" Catwoman, who until then had been silent, asked with widened eyes.

"Yes. A street surveillance camera in Moscow, Russia, spotted Lex Luthor in the company of Uzumaki Naruto who, by the look of things, was acting as his bodyguard."

Batman fell deep in thought.

 _'Uzumaki was not the type that could be bought with money. Just what did Luther offer him to win him over?'_

Superman's following words, however, brought his attention back to the discussion.

"We need you, Bruce! The Justice League needs Batman again!"

* * *

AN: I would appreciate a pm or a review with your thoughts on the chapter. Hopefully you liked it :)

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	19. Chapter 19 - Alive!

AN: I couldn't keep my promise and I wrote a new chapter for this story first, instead of writing one for Absolute Choice. Sorry :D

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 19 - Alive?!**

 _On the prison island_

"AARGH!"

A colective scream of despair. Sounds of bodies being impaled or dismembered and the sick noises made by the blood splattering into the air... it was a carnage.

Everything was white...and crimson red. The previously lush tropical forest that covered the island seemed to have disappeared. A new forest had appeared, a white forest had swallowed the green.

It was a forest of white bones, painted with the crimson blood coming from the mangled corpses of the metahumans.

The special operatives surrounding Lex Luthor stood there petrified in shocked disbelief. They were hardened veterans, true warriors that faced death on a daily basis. But nothing could have prepared them for what they just witnessed. It was a cruelty and carnage above everything they have ever seen before.

Suddenly, the sound made by a series of heavy steps was heard and a silhouette covered in blood from head to toes appeared from amongst the gigantic bone forest.

It wasn't known who started it...but a terrified yell was heard:

"M-Monster!"

Following that, as one, the entirety of the special forces began to shoot madly at the bloodied silhouette until they ran out of bullets. Sweat was pouring like a tropical rain down their temples and their hands was shaking.

A chuckle was heard.

"Hehe.. That tickled!"

As on cue, the over 100 reinforced bullets that hit his body, all fell down on the sand at the same time. They had managed to pierce the skin, but right under the outer layer of the skin, a white membrane seemed to have stopped their advance completely.

It was one of Naruto's new kekkei genkai-related techniques - Inner Bone Armour. He had created a very thin but nigh impenetrable bone membrane, right below the skin all over his body. (1)

A crazed laughter escaped from his lips after the bullets all fell to the ground.

"Let me repay you the favour, motherfuckers!"

"Electromagnetic Murder!" Naruto shouted and stomped his foot powerfully onto the ground.

Black lightning exploded from the sole of his feet and, on a radius of 50 metres around him, the sand was transformed into glass.

Travelling through the ground, the black lightning reached the group surrounding Lex Luthor. It took only 2 seconds - then, the nearly 30 special operatives all fell to the ground. Their clothes and armour turned into ash and black charred corpses was all that was left of them.

 _*thump*_

 _*thud*_

Heavy sounds were reverberating into Lex Luthor ears every time Naruto stepped. He was approaching him.

Luthor looked at the forest of bones and and at the mangled and bloodied corpses. Then, he looked at his own feet, at the charred remains of the special operatives.

A terror like never before flooded him. He backed away and stumbled. He almost fell...when 5 powerful fingers grabbed at his head, almost digging into his brain.

When Naruto spoke, instead of the crazed voice Luthor had been expecting, a cold and composed one hit his ears.

"Give me one good reason why I should keep you alive."

It sent frozen chills down his spine. He almost urinated himself. But the businessman grit his teeth.

 _'I'm not going to die here! Everything I have worked so hard for, my entire life, would be for nothing!'_

 _'I cannot die here! I cannot die before fulfilling my grand ambitions!'_ Luthor shouted at himself in desperation.

"It seems that you do not value your life-" Naruto spoke. He was about to clench his fingers and turn Luthor's skull into a gory paste when the bald man yelled:

"WAIT! Wait, please!"

"Given your strength, you will easily win this tournament. You will have everything you want: freedom, money and even women if you want...everything! But if I die, all these rewards will be gone... You won't even be able to leave the island anymore as you don't know how to pilot a helicopter!"

Naruto's grip on Luthor's head loosened and the man fell to the ground as if his body had no bones left in it.

Lex Luthor sighed in relief. He didn't know what the future had in store for him, but, right then, he knew that at least his survival was assured - Naruto still needed him.

Heavy steps began to be heard again. Luthor followed Naruto with his eyes, as he went to the shore.

Naruto took off all of his clothes and entered the sea. Blood and filth spread into all directions around him as his body was being cleansed. He also washed his clothes as well as he could before putting them on.

Meanwhile, Luthor got up from the ground and looked around himself with amazement and fear etched in his eyes. One meter around the place where he was standing on still had sand, but everywhere else, the sand had been turned into glass!

 _'Just how much control does he have on his power and over his own emotions?'_ Luthor asked himself in disbelief.

In everyone's eyes Naruto looked just like a bloody berserk slaughtering right and left indiscriminately. But that seemed to be far from truth - even in his frenzied slaughter, Naruto did not lose his mind - he didn't kill his ticket to a new life (namely Lex Luthor). And if his control over his emotions was amazing, controlling lightning as it travelled through the ground to destroy everything except for one small area, was not any less impressive.

Luthor noticed Naruto approaching him when the sound of the glassy ground cracking under the weight of his body reached his ears.

"I have a few questions for you..."

Luthor tensed at his words.

Naruto's red-tinted blue eyes met his and be spoke again:

"I'm warning you: I have the ability to distinguish whether someone is lying to me or speaking the truth. I know even when someone is speaking half-truths."

"Lie to me only once, and you die."

His voice was calm, it was as if what he spoke was a matter of fact.

Luthor felt his throat becoming dry. He didn't doubt that Naruto will keep his words about killing him. After all, even if he couldn't leave the island that day anymore, someone was bound to come to the island anyway after a few days if there was no sign heard from Lex Luthor in the meantime.

Naruto plopped himself on the sand, at just a foot away from Luthor who, in that moment, looked like he would give anything to be anywhere else on the planet instead of sitting in a circle of 1 meter of sand with someone as vicious and dangerous as Naruto.

"Question number 1: what is this tournament really about?"

Luthor spoke, trying to make his voice as calm as possible, as to not make Naruto suspect anything. He had no intention of lying anyway.

"I did not lie previously. It is a tournament that started decades ago and it had began at the same time with the Cold War between the Occidental World and the Communist Block. Originally, it was held between death-row prisoners that were ordinary humans but after a few years, only metahumans were chosen to participate."

To Luthor, Naruto looked as if he was pondering on his words.

 **"He is not lying."** Kyuubi told Naruto.

"You did not lie. Let's continue." Naruto said and Luthor released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Question number 2: why are you participating? Why only now after all these years?"

Luthor tensed. The answer to this question was related to something classified, something that only a handful of people knew. But looking at the cold and merciless eyes of his interrogator, he knew he could not hide anything.

"I am looking for a weapon. A metahuman powerful enough to kill Superman and not only."

This time, Naruto took a few moments to converse with Kyuubi, before his eyes glinted dangerously.

"What are you hiding, Luthor?"

The tip of a bone started to protrude from Naruto's left palm. Witnessing such a sight first-hand, petrified Luthor. He spilled the secret before Naruto could even issue his verbal threat.

"O-Originally my intention was indeed to find someone powerful enough to kill Superman. However, as of late, a new, more powerful, uncontrollable factor came into play - not counting you."

Naruto's interest was picked.

"Tell me everything."

Luthor didn't dare to hesitate.

"The idea started from Emil Hamilton, one of Star Labs' scientists that used to aid Superman quite a lot in his early years as a hero. However, after that one incident where the so-called Man of Steel went rogue - you must have surely heard of it - he began to think that Superman was more of a danger to Earth's safety than a help...so he devised a plan..."

Unknowingly, Luthor managed to captivate Naruto's attention completely.

"...For a long time, he made preparations for it and, after getting all the necessary materials, Hamilton joined a secret organization of the government together with his assistant - Cadmus. Unfortunately, Hamilton went missing a few months after that - we still do not know the reasons."

"His assistant, for a better or worse, was actually an even more brilliant scientist than Emil Hamilton himself..."

"You see, professor Hamilton's plan had been to create a metahuman capable of going toe-to-toe against Superman...a clone made from Supergirl's very DNA."

Naruto couldn't help taking a deep breath.

 _'A clone of Supergirl?! ...since when had cloning become possible in the first place?!'_

"His assistant, however, created something more powerful than what Hamilton even dared to dream. He created a Kryptonian that is actually immune to Kyptonite's effect..."

A deep silence followed.

"So, basically, you have created a weapon that was more perfect than you had intended in the first place. Have you lost control of it already?"

Luthor shook his head.

"Actually, that would have been a better situation than the present one. The weapon is very loyal to its creator - the former assistant of Emil Hamilton." Said Luthor "I have never been able to discern what his thoughts were behind that ever-present smile of his. That man, Orochimaru, is one of the most dangerous per-"

Naruto tuned out the rest of Luthor's words when he heard the name of the assistant.

 _'Did he just say that his name was Orochimaru?!'_

So far Naruto had met a few of the people from his last life - his grandfather, the Inuzuka Clan, Rock Lee and Guy...but none of them had seemed to be aware of their past lives.

 _'When it comes to Orochimaru, however...'_

Naruto thought about the Snake Sannin from his past life. If there was one person that had become a true immortal, that was Orochimaru - not the Sage of Six Paths, not Madara... It was Orochimaru.

 _'The Snake Sannin was revived from just some cells of Kabuto and Anko's cursed seal...and when he resurrected he knew everything that happened while he was 'dead', as if he had always been alive in the first place.'_

The point was that Naruto feared that it was impossible for Orochimaru to not be aware of his past life - he thought that if there was one person that would find a way to remember, besides himself, that would the Snake Sannin...and that revelation led his mind to quite a few disturbing ramifications.

While Naruto was deep into his thoughts, he didn't notice the look of the superiority that all of a sudden flashed through Lex Luthor's eyes.

 _'How in the world could I possibly forget something like this?!_ ' Luthor kept asking himself.

Telling Naruto about Supergirl's clone made Luthor recall which was the reason why Supergirl's clone had no weakness against Kryptonite... Initially, because of the terror and shock instilled by Naruto's brutality and by the carnage he had caused, Luthor's mind was thrown in disarray, but now he remembered it.

Lex Luthor regained his confidence and the corner of his lips twisted into that overconfident smirk he always sported. It was the attitude of a person that knew that he had everything under his control, that he was above everyone else.

"So you wanted someone that could counter the weapon your organization had created. Too bad for you that I don't give a crap about your problems." Naruto said when he stopped his train of thought.

Lex Luthor's smirk only widened.

"Oh, allow me to show you something." the businessman said and his hand went to the chest pocket of his suit.

He took out his smartphone and, after tapping the screen a few times, a photo was shown.

When Naruto's eyes fell on the screen of the phone, what he felt first was confusion.

It showed a girl that was floating in a tube full of a greenish liquid with only a transparent oxygen mask covering her mouth and nose. It was not unlike what he saw once in a SF movie about human experiments.

"Look closer at the girl inside." Luthor said in an insidious voice, dripping with mockery.

Naruto felt the urge to skin his bald head alive for a moment. But his curiosity won over his desire to show Luthor his place.

When his eyes fell again on the photo showed on the screen, shock flashed on Naruto's face.

Long legs, an exquisite figure, crimson-red hair that reached her feet...and 2 pair of whisker like marks on her cheeks...

"I-Imposible!"

* * *

AN: **Yes, the adorable Misaki is actually not dead!** I reeeealy want to see your reaction to this chapter haha xD

(1) Kimimaro created this kind of bone armour under his skin to resist the powerful constriction of Gaara's sand. This bone armour is one of the strongest defensive jutsus in the entire anime.

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	20. Chapter 20 - Heavenly Tribulation

AN: I'm warning you, this is a very Xianxia-like chapter. Hope it doesn't put you off too much.

(Mini explanatory rant)

Important: To those thinking that I kept Misaki alive cuz I'm running out of ideas - I've had a general outline of the plot from even before I started to write the first word for this story. That means that the main arcs and events have long since been planned out: Misaki being alive was part of the plot from the beginning - those readers that couldn't help their curiosity and asked me for spoilers after Joker blew up the yachts knew that that she was still alive all the time.

Important 2: Misaki is very important for this story. She is the catalyst that actually makes the entire plot progress - without her, Naruto would have remained a normal thug in Gotham, doing small illegal shit in his everyday life. Without Misaki Naruto would have never collaborated with Cadmus and would have never had the chance to meet Galatea.

I know that since you don't know the entire plot, some things may seem as they had been done thoughtlessly, but do try to be a little more patient, ok? Hopefully this won't offend anyone. Enjoy the chapter :)

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

 **"Hello"** \- Kyuubi talking

* * *

 _Previous chapter_

 _When his eyes fell again on the photo showed on the screen, shock flashed on Naruto's face._

 _Long legs, an exquisite figure, crimson-red hair that reached her feet...and 2 pair of whisker like marks on her cheeks..._

 _"I-Imposible!"_

* * *

 **Chapter 20 - Heavenly Tribulation**

"I-I can't believe it...!"

He couldn't get his mind around the fact that his big sister was alive. He grabbed Luthor by his collar and lifted him violently into the air in one hand.

"You're lying!" he screamed.

Lex Luthor merely smirked, apparently completely unfazed by the rough treatment he was receiving.

"You said that you have an ability that allows you to know when you're being lied to or not. Use it and see whether I am lying or I am speaking the truth!"

Naruto let go of his hold on Luthor and backed away trembling. A sharp pain suddenly appeared in his dantian region. His shrivelled chakra heart was convulsing violently. Apparently, he had overworked it way too much in order to summon that forest of gigantic bones. And now that his emotional state was a mess, his control over his chakra heart went haywire.

He clutched at his lower abdomen in pain and collapsed. His knees hit the sand.

"Tsk. How pathetic! Just look at the mess you've become after just hearing a few words about your oh so precious sibling!" Luthor, all of a sudden, spoke in disdain and he closed the distance between the two of them.

But Naruto could not focus on his words. He felt like his chakra heart was going to burst any moment then.

"What use is to have such a tremendous power if your mind is so fragile? Truly, a pathetic existence!" Luthor mocked again and lifted his leg in order to deliver a kick.

"SHUT YOUR TRAP!" Naruto roared and shot a backhand at the unsuspecting Luthor.

A cracking sound was heard and Luthor was sent flying, all the while howling in agony. His tibia was broken in two places.

 _'Kurama, what the hell is happening to me?'_

 **"I...I don't know!"**

 _'Do something goddammit, make it stop!'_ Naruto begged as he writhed on the sand in pain.

But Kyuubi was afraid that if he tried stabilising Naruto's chakra heart with his own chakra, it would explode.

 _*thump*_

Just as Naruto's words finished, the chakra heart began to pump madly, the speed of its beats increasing at an alarming pace.

 _*thump*_

 _*thump*_

 _*thump*_

From Naruto's convulsing body, blue speckles of light began to rise up. It started with a small number of them, but, after a few moments, their number increased to the point where it looked like a flock of blue fireflies.

At the same time, unbeknownst to Naruto, a change began to take place in the sky above the island. The wind rapidly picked up and, out of nowhere, black clouds started to gather. A thick blanket covered the previously crystal-clear, blue sky and the entire island was overwhelmed by darkness.

Thunders began to rock the sky and bolts of lightning illuminated the semi-darkness... Suddenly, a movement appeared within the thick blanket of black clouds: slowly, they began to rotate around a focal point, exactly above the place where Naruto was laying.

A feeling of danger suddenly assaulted Kyuubi's senses.

 _ **"Naruto! Move! YOU HAVE TO GET AWAY!"**_

Kyuubi felt a sense of dread almost like when he first met the incomplete form of Juubi, the Ten-Tailed Primordial Beast.

It was as if the Nature itself was enraged at him and Naruto, as if it wanted to make them feel its rage.

But Naruto couldn't move his body even if he had any strength left in his limbs. . . A formless force was pressing him down, keeping him immobilized. For a moment, Naruto felt not unlike Atlas, who was said in mythology to have shouldered the weight of the skies.

 _'I-I can't!'_

Naruto couldn't even speak, he could only send his own thoughts to Kyuubi in order to converse.

 _'You have to get away, Kurama!'_ Naruto said. By the time the sky got dark, it became obvious for Naruto as well that a cataclysmic event was going to take place, with him in the centre of it.

 **"Don't screw with me, I told you that-"** Kyuubi began, but Naruto yelled back at him, cutting off his words:

 _'Cut the crap, get the fuck away, do you want to die in vain? What's the use of you dying here?!'_

 _'That bald fucker is still here. Although he's missing a leg now, you can still use his body to at least get away from this hellhole!'_

But Naruto's words fell on deaf ears. Kyuubi was not planning on giving them any heed. The fox frustration and rage, were so high that he couldn't help screaming, unknowingly taking control of Naruto's body in the process.

Although the wind resembled now a full fledged hurricane, Kyuubi's enraged roar that came from Naruto's mouth was heard well over it.

Kyuubi was tired of it. Tired of always seeing and feeling Naruto's suffering. If Naruto's past life had not been hellish enough, this one sure complimented it.

Kyuubi had watched his first jinchuuriki in this life, Mito, being captured and experimented on for the rest of her remaining life. He saw Kushina, Mito's daughter and his next jinchuuriki living her entire life in a lab and after finally escaping, getting assassinated together with her husband. Then, he saw Naruto's grandfather arriving dead at home. After that, he saw the supposed death of Misaki and, consequently, the news of her ending up as a lab rat just like her mother.

...Were the Uzumaki truly cursed? ...and was Naruto always the one that had to suffer the most because of it?

 _ **'No more!'**_ Kyuubi vowed to himself.

 _ **'No more!'**_ Kyuubi said to himself one more time resolutely.

A crimson wave of energy exploded from Naruto's collapsed body and the hurricane was blasted away for a moment.

 _'The hell are you doing, stupid?!'_ Naruto inwardly screamed at Kyuubi. He didn't have any control left over his body...it was not unlike that day in his past life when Kyuubi took over his body in the battle against Nagato's Deva Path.

Naruto's body lifted itself from the ground at an odd angle, defying the formless force that had been pressing it down. Another enraged, animalistic roar came from his mouth and a vile red cloak covered him.

Not a moment later, a flash of white was seen - from the middle of the vortex of black clouds above the island, a bolt of lightning struck.

A roar of pain came from Kyuubi when the lightning struck Naruto's body.

Even if he would not be able to save Naruto after using up all of his chakra tails, Kyuubi wanted to at least not let him suffer. Not anymore. For once, he wanted to take all of Naruto's burden and pain on himself. If they were to die, he wanted to, at least, let Naruto die painlessly. He would endure everything. Until the end.

The wind picked up again, the vortex in the sky started rotating even faster. The thunder boomed again after another bolt of lightning struck.

Again.

Again.

And again.

To defend against each of the lightning strikes, Kyuubi had to use up to a tail's worth of chakra every time. Not to mention that the pain the fox was going through was unimaginable. Never before had Kyuubi been through a pain of that magnitude, never in his existence of thousands of years. As the strongest bijuu, who had ever put him through so much suffering before?

Kyuubi roared in agony for the seventh time. His entire chakra was wasted - his 7 tails so painfully cultivated during the last 2 years on the island had all been wasted in less than 3 minutes.

The sky thundered again. Kyuubi knew that another lightning strike was going to descend any moment then. But he had used up all of his power...he couldn't even maintain the control over Naruto's body.

In the meantime, Naruto witnessed Kyuubi's actions in stunned disbelief. He recalled Kyuubi's words from just a few minutes before, when the over 200 metahuman prisoners attacked him:

 _ **"Who the fuck do you think I am? Do you think I am a flimsy human that would cower away and abandon you just like that? Huh?!"**_

 _ **"This is not like in our past life... You are not my jailor. We are not enemies anymore. You are my partner. If you live, I live. If you die, I die. You are my friend, Naruto."**_

He felt Kyuubi's sincerity back then but not even in his wildest dreams had Naruto ever envisioned the sight he had just witnessed: Kyuubi, a demon of rage and hatred, choosing to be tortured and basically sacrificing himself for the sake of someone else...for his sake.

Hot tears filled Naruto's now blue eyes. Like a torrent they started to fall from his eyes...but before they even reached the end of his chin, a startling thing happened. The air suddenly appeared to have become denser and the droplets of water from his eyes floated into the air for a few seconds, as if the gravity didn't work on them anymore. Static energy filed the atmosphere and a suffocating pressure fell on the island.

Then, it happened.

A blinding flash of light transformed everything into a world of white. A deafening thunder followed afterwards, like the sky itself had been smashed apart by a wrathful deity's club.

When the light died down, a smoking crater was left in the place where Naruto's body had once laid.

 _Scene break_

A large screen illuminated the darkness of a high-ceiled room. On it, the structure of a certain individual's DNA were displayed.

"I can't seem to find a way to awaken the power slumbering within her body..." came the soft voice of a man.

His pale-skinned hand went through the long and smooth strands of black hair falling on his face as he groaned tiredly.

The man suddenly began to tap impatiently on the keyboard at a fast speed, various changes appearing within the spirals of the DNA. But no matter what he changed, the expression of the man's face didn't seem to get better, regardless.

A long while passed.

"It is as I feared..." the man sighed in disappointment. "It can be activated only, directly, manually."

Suddenly, a soft and sweet fragrance filled his nostrils and two tender hands sneaked around his neck. A lovely voice whispered.

"Why are you still up at this hour, father?"

The man sat up from his chair and turned towards the one that called him her father. A gentle smile was plastered on his normally cold-looking face and the scientist persona from before melted under what looked like genuine happiness from seeing his daughter.

"You know, like usual. Trying to make the most of everything." the man answered ambiguously as his onyx black eyes sparkled playfully in the light of the screen.

"Still trying to 'awaken' my so-called 'power'? I'm already perfect...you made me perfect!" the girl said with a pout and crossed her arms under her generous chest.

For an outsider, those words would sound weird, but for the two of them, they were a reality.

The man chuckled and one of his hands fell on the top of the girl's head, ruffling her sweaty blond hair in the process.

The girl closed her eyes in contentment and smiled. That childish reaction greatly contrasted with her appearance - she was dressed only a pair of sports shorts and bra, articles which showed off very well her body. She looked like a 20 year-old woman with the body of a fitness-fanatic: long and strong but perfectly shaped legs, round and ripe butt cheeks, large breasts, a very well-defined 6-pack and a shapely silhouette. Her short, bob-cut blonde hair only completed the image of a powerful young lady...a powerful, but insanely beautiful woman.

Even so, at the small gesture of affection from her father, she smiled like a little girl, melting into his touch.

"You are powerful, indeed. Very powerful. But perfect? Only in the eyes of an outsider you are perfect...as long as there is room for improvement, you will never be perfect."

A small furrow marred the young woman's beautiful face for a moment, but she willed it way. She had the age of a toddler and because of that, although she had the IQ of a genius, there still were many things that the girl admitted to not have fully understood. Sometimes, she didn't really understand other people's feelings and the motivation behind their actions was many times a mystery for her. Despite having a brilliant intelligence, the young woman lacked the experience one gathers after years and years of interacting with his peers, after being a part of the society - and that was even more pronounced given that in her 2 short years of life, the woman has barely interacted with anyone else except for her father. She had only focused on becoming the perfect warrior, someone that would be able to take down anyone that would rise to threaten her father or herself.

That being said, although the woman didn't understand her father's obsession with continuously "perfecting" her, she let it slide away. After all, it didn't negatively affect her in any way and, if that was what it took to make her father happy, she had not qualms about it whatsoever. He was the most important person in her life.

"My dear, do you remember those fairy tale-like stories I keep telling you almost every night?"

An ordinary woman her age would have blushed furiously at such a claim - after all, no normal person of her apparent age would still have her father tell her bedtime stories. But there was no sign of discomfort to be seen at her.

"Of course. But you said they were real. Even if it sounds implausible, I know that you would never lie to me... but why are you saying this now?"

The man started walking to a specific part of his lab, with the young woman trailing closely behind him. They stopped in front of a big cushioned chair with a closed-eye helmet included.

"That energy that lies dormant inside of you...you are underestimating it greatly. I've tried to built a machine capable of converting the brainwaves into an actual representation of the 5 senses. It took me close to two years until I finally managed to do it. And all of it, just to show you one of my memories...just to make you understand how big of a potential your body holds!"

"Come on, try it on!" the man said in excitement, an entirely different behaviour from his normal cool and calm attitude.

 _'He's always becoming like that when it comes to thing related to what he deems as his past life.'_ the young woman inwardly mused. But she obediently followed his instructions. She sat on the chair and let the man put on the helmet on her head. She closed her eyes.

For a moment, everything was black. But then, a dusty smell and the heat of a dry wind assaulted her senses. Her brain also registered the images sent to it. It was as if she was looking at the scenery with her own two eyes: she was on a tall cliff - it must've been over 100 feet in height. Beneath her feet, a vast canyon was spread. What should've been a desolate scenery, was radically different because of the army of thousands of people that were standing at just half a mile away.

Suddenly, against her will, her eyes moved to the side. From the corner of her vision, she finally took notice of her body... a male body, wrapped in bandages from head to toes. She finally understood that she was relieving the memory from someone's perspective. She was just a spectator. Reaching this conclusion, she finally looked at the person standing next to her: a long mane of spiky black hair and donning an armour consisting of dark red metal plates covering his chest, shoulders and thighs...even for her who had never seen him before, that person was unmistakable - her father, Orochimaru, had made sure of that.

And if the appearance was not a dead give away, it was the suffocating pressure he was passively emitting that let her understand who was he... it was the pressure of someone who knows that he is in control of everything...a terribly powerful warrior which has no equal and which is aware of that... That person was none other than Uchiha Madara.

* * *

AN 1: I suppose that many of you are not familiar with the xianxia novels, so I will explain it for you: the Heavenly Tribulation is a common occurrence in the cultivation world. The Heavenly Tribulation occurs when the cultivator of qi is about to step past the limits of a human body, to the next realm of existence - that of an immortal (a being with extended or infinite longevity and with abilities that seem godly compared to their previous ones). This so-called Heavenly Tribulation usually consists of a lightning storm and it is usually seen as the way the Nature (as in the Universe) itself expresses its anger at those that defile the natural order of things in hopes of transcending and freeing themselves of the shackles of mortal life (like getting old, catching diseases etc). Another Heavenly Tribulation is delivered when the cultivator is about to leave the limits of an immortal behind and step into godhood. Of course, the names of the realms and steps of cultivations are different from a novel to another, but this is the gist of it.

AN 2: The memory Galatea – we all know that she was the one – started to experience through the helmet was from the 4th Shinobi War, that scene where Madara destroys a few tens of thousands of shinobi in that canyon. Search on youtube " **Madara Uchiha rapes Shinobi Alliance** " if you want to rewatch the scene lmao 😂.

The only problem is that the video above is dubbed - personally, I only watch subbed stuff, so, if you're like me, you can find the scene in episode 322 of Shippuden. Also, for those who wonder how the heck does Orochimaru have this memory - he got all the memories of Kabuto after Sasuke resurrected him. And Kabuto witnessed the entire event through the eyes of his reanimations.

As for what was Orochimaru was trying to activate - if you don't suspect the answer already - it is Galatea's chakra.

Haven't said this in a while, but, whenever you want to tell me something about the story, don't hesitate. Complaints, suggestions or questions about the story are always welcomed as long as they are made in a civil fashion.

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't have a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_

 ** _PLEASE READ THE 3RD PART OF MY BIO ON MY PROFILE_**


	21. Chapter 21 - Second Step

AN:

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 21 - Second Step**

Just as the lightning was about to descend for the 8th time, a fire started to burn inside Naruto's despairing heart. After everything that happened in his two lives, he was going to die just like that? Was there some sort of twisted god above that took it as his personal job to make his life hell?

In that instant, before the lightning struck, in the eve of his death, time seemed to have frozen over for Naruto, just like years before, when he had been about to drown in the river. In the present time though, it wasn't the memories of his past life that began to flash past his eyes...no, first and foremost, it was Misaki Uzumaki that appeared in his vision: from the small girl that cried pitifully because of the harsh training of their grandpa, to the young woman that was being kept in an artificial coma, immersed into a tank, just like a lab experiment.

Even so...

 _'She is alive...'_

Those three words made his exhausted chakra heart throb painfully.

 _'Misaki is alive!'_

A hurricane of feelings flooded him. He wanted to see her smiling happily. He wanted to hug his 'little' sister, to tease her and spoil her, just like he used to do it before all the time. And lastly, but not in the least, like a venomous snake, a burning desire of revenge made him seethe with rage. It was this twisted mix of feelings that him scream in anger and defiance.

His dying chakra heart convulsed in exertion. But he paid it no mind. It was going to be then or never!

A blinding flash of light transformed everything into a world of white. A deafening thunder followed afterwards, like the sky itself had been smashed apart by a wrathful deity's club.

When the light died down, a smoking crater was left in the place where Naruto's body had once laid...

 _'T-That was close!'_

Gasping for air laboriously, Naruto was barely keeping onto his consciousness. Somehow, right before the 8th lightning bolt struck, he had managed to use the Kawarimi jutsu. A banal technique that 10 year old children used to learn in his past life at the Shinobi Academy just saved his life!

Naruto breathed out in relief. But that feeling did not last for more than a second and a frown crept up on his face.

 _'What's with this shit? What the hell did just happen?!'_

That series of lightning strikes came out of nowhere. He had no idea what could have caused them.

 _'Is the lightning going to strike again?'_ said Naruto to himself as he looked at the sky fearfully.

But, to his immense relief, the winds began to die down and, just as sudden as the clouds covered the sky previously, just as fast they disappeared. The crystal blue sky that appeared after 2 minutes made it seem as if everything had been just a dream, as if that tribulation of lightning had never happened.

Filled with relief, Naruto felt the sand move under his feet... he fell to the ground unconscious. Performing the Kawarimi technique, a few moments before, had required everything of him, every ounce of mental and physical strength.

The ground shuddered at the impact of Naruto's heavy body falling. But then, an eerie silence instilled. Not only Naruto had fallen unconscious, it seemed that Lex Luthor had also passed out from the hellish pain of having had his tibia smashed into pieces.

The moment Naruto lost his consciousness, the air near one of the helicopters seemed to become blurred. A silhouette appeared from thin air - it was a plump teen, with two large front teeth and small black eyes. He was bleeding profusely from his thigh from the splinters that resulted after the lightning-coated pebble thrown by Naruto into a tree had exploded near him.

The young metahuman looked at the prone form of Naruto, shivering, still shocked at the carnage he witnessed. But he forced his mind to calm down.

He was, after all, one of the most brilliant minds USA has ever produced. The only reason he was in a prison island instead of being used by the government for his brain, was his very elusive ability of turning invisible - he would be too hard to control otherwise. That being said, his mental discipline was so formidable that he could, for a while, even make his brain stop perceiving the pain from his bleeding thigh, let alone suppress some feelings.

He glanced, at first, at the 4 helicopters. His first thoughts had been to just jump into one of them and get himself out of the island...

 _'But what comes after that? Living on the run and hiding myself from not only the government, but from other criminal organisations as well?'_

For someone like Rupert Jones, it was impossible to live a normal life. His abilities made him too much of a game-changer for the government to leave him be or for the criminals to let him live his life in peace.

Rupert turned his eyes from the helicopters to the still unconscious Naruto. During his stay there, many rumours circulated about him on the island...that he had fought all by himself against the Justice League and defeated most of them. That he had broadcasted himself torturing the psychopath Joker to death. And that he had done all of that just because he wanted to avenge his sister...not many of them had bought these rumours as being true. But after seeing what had just transpired, all of Rupert's doubts vanished.

During his stay on the island, Rupert had also noticed that Naruto was not like the others. He didn't bother anyone, unless provoked, and he wasn't one to oppress the weak like other powerful metahumans on the island did - raping the weak prisoners, taking all the food for themselves or making others grovel in front of them... Naruto had always minded his own business.

A thought was born in Rupert's mind:

 _'What if I were the one to save Uzumaki Naruto's life? Maybe...just maybe, he would return the favour...'_

Rupert didn't want much. He only wanted to live an ordinary life...to be safe. And someone as powerful as Uzumaki Naruto could offer him that. Moreover, Naruto seemed to not be an evil criminal - Rupert would be perfectly content with working for someone like him instead for a criminal organisation or to become the government's dog.

Rupert glanced then at the only other person alive on the island besides Naruto and him: Lex Luthor.

 _'If I take Uzumaki Naruto with me, I will have to take the bald millionaire as well. He is, after all, Uzumaki's money bag and his ticket to freedom. And the happier Uzumaki is, the higher are the chances for him to take my offer.'_

The fatty went to Naruto first. He grabbed the blonde by his arms, trying to lift him up...only to feel his own spine almost breaking.

"Sweet Jesus!" he couldn't help shouting, letting go of Naruto.

 _'What is his body made of?!'_

It was too heavy for him to lift even Naruto's arms, let alone the rest of his body.

Rupert laid on the ground helplessly. His only option was to wait for the blonde to wake up. With this thought in mind, the fatty limped his way to one of the mangled corpses and ripped a piece of cloth that was not stained by blood - an action that actually proved to be quite a difficult task considering the fashion in which all those metahumans had been slaughtered.

After mending the wound on his thigh as well as possible, the fatty headed towards the building containing the mess hall. The entire island was now covered in tree-sized bones and Rupert had to suppress again a shudder of terror as he passed through the bones. Reaching the destroyed kitchen, he grabbed a bowl and, in spite of his wound, his fear made him almost run on his way back.

A while later, holding a bowl filled with seawater, the fatty returned to Naruto in order to wake him up somehow. But, as if there had not been enough abnormalities taking place in the last few hours, another thing happened: treads of light began interweaving around Naruto's body, wrapping him in a manner similar to that of cocoon.

The poor fatty dropped the bowl to the ground helplessly as he took in the scene. One thought was occupying his mind in that moment - that maybe, just maybe, he bit off more than he could chew.

 _Scene break_

She was in her second year of college. That's basically the time when a people enjoy their life to its fullest...parties, friends, the stress before the exams and the immense relief following after passing them. It is the most colourful period of one's life.

...At least this how it is for most of the people... There will always be exceptions. And Barbara Gordon was one.

 _ **Misaki Uzumaki**_

 _ **18 years old**_

 _ **Loving sister of Naruto Uzumaki and granddaughter of Sarutobi Hiruzen.**_

It was a simple grave, with a simple, square-cut stone. Of course, Misaki's body was not resting in there. But it was a nice gesture made by the mayor of Gotham: a special place was built close to the centre of the city where a few hundred of people were symbolically buried - all the victims that died in the tragedy caused by the Joker two years before.

Kneeling in front of the stone, tears began to pour from Barbara's eyes. Today was the day when the tragedy was caused by Joker two years before.

As she stood there crying, the memories from two years ago, began to resurface into her mind.

That day, the limousine that picked up Misaki from her home, also picked up Barbara. It had been their plan to make their entrance with style, to - as they say - steal the light from everyone.

However, two minutes before reaching their destination, Barbara received a text message from an unknown mobile number, on her secret mobile phone - _Something is wrong. Do not board the yachts. Please come home immediately_.

Back then, she didn't know who was it. But she didn't dismiss the text as a joke. After all, it was received on a number that only she and her father knew. It was used only in those times of emergency.

However, now that she was who she was, Barbara knew that back then it had been Batman that sent that message on her secret phone. The Dark Knight had realized that something was about to happen and he decided to warn the daughter of his old friend, commissioner Gordon, about the danger.

Back then, she hurriedly asked the driver to stop the car, which, despite his confusion, he did. Barbara tried to find a plausible explanation to give Misaki but she couldn't. What could she have said? – "I've got an anonymous text message warning me that something might be wrong."?

In the end, Barbara couldn't help but let an angered Misaki leave and helplessly watched as her stubborn friend got back into the limo...going without her, towards what was supposed to be the most grandiose party of their lives.

As she was crying in front of the gravestone, Barbara didn't notice the arrival of another person.

"Hey, Batgirl!"

The voice of the newly arrived person startled her. Hurriedly, she wiped her tears away and turned.

Baby-blue eyes, straight and silky blonde hair that reached to the middle of her back and the body of a fitness addict. She was gorgeous. Her attire consisting of a blue skirt, a blue cape and a white shirt with a large S imprinted on its chest made it clear who was she - Supergirl.

"Oh, hey!" Barbara tried to squeeze out a smile.

"I've been looking for you everywhere...this was the last place I expected to find you in." Supergirl said as she looked around.

Noticing the flowers at the base of the gravestone, Supergirl asked softly:

"You lost someone that day as well?"

"Yes."

Supergirl glanced at the name elegantly carved on the gravestone.

"Misaki Uzumaki... Uzumaki ... Oh My God! Is... Is she the person I think she is?" Supergirl almost yelled.

Barbara nodded and she said quietly:

"Yes. She was his sister. The one for whose sake Uzumaki Naruto caused the Massacre from Arkham Asylum two years ago."

Hearing those words was like a revelation for Supergirl.

"Were you close to him?"

"Not really. Naruto never had any actual friends apart from his sister. He had always been that Boogey Man that scared away anyone that tried to get anywhere close to his sister." Barbara said and she found herself smiling sadly at the memory of the overprotective brother.

"You have no idea how much he loved her, Kara..." Barbara continued. "I heard from Batman that, after their grandfather's death, Naruto fought, as an ordinary human, in a cage fighting tournament against even metahumans, just so he could offer Misaki the same luxury she had been used to when their grandfather was alive..."

"I had not been very close to Naruto but, as his sister's childhood and best friend, I was being cared for by him as well. I am well aware that my high school life had been as peaceful as it is, not just because my father's position in Gotham, but because of Naruto as well..."

Supergirl looked at Barbara in amazement.

"Wow! I had no idea you grew together with that monster!"

"Kara!" Barbara rebuked in indignation.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to call him a monster...haha. It's just that.. Look, the things you just told me about him are completely different from the image I have of him." Supergirl said as she scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

Barbara sighed in defeat.

"It's ok, your reaction is understandable..."

A few moments of silence passed. Eventually, Supergirl asked:

"Your childhood friend, you still miss her, don't you?"

"That's an understatement... there is no day passing without me thinking about my dear Misaki at least once."

"Really that much?!" Supergirl asked more than a bit shocked. It was normal to grieve a dear friend's death but to still think so much about them even after two years – every day at that – was not normal by any means.

"Of course I do..." Barbara trailed off as her eyes fell on the gravestone again.

"...After all, Misaki's death was the reason I chose to became the Batgirl 2 years ago."

 _Scene break_

One metahuman was lying in an octagonal ring on the floor, his body convulsing uncontrollably due to the black lightning coursing through his body. He was supposed to be one of the most powerful fighters the prisons all over the world had to offer. However, in front of Naruto, he fell to his defeated without even having a chance to attack...just like Naruto's previous opponents. None of them could stay more than 3 seconds against him in the ring. He didn't even need to move his body, he just sent his lightning, with a thought, to strike down his opponent. It goes without saying that he powered it down in order to not leave only a pile of ash from his opponents after striking them.

He turned his head towards Lex Luthor who had been watching the fights with a bitter face. He should have been ecstatic at the immense amount of money Naruto just won for him, but there was no happiness in his eyes.

"Now that this farce is over, it's time for us to go."

Naruto's words only made Luthor feel worse. Lex Luthor had been supposed to find a weapon capable of countering Cadmus' failed project - Galatea. Failed, in the sense that she could not be controlled at their whims.

Lex Luthor did find one...the problem, however, was that it was an individual even worse than Galatea. For better or worse, Galatea could still be controlled by Orochimaru. But Naruto Uzumaki could not be controlled by anyone.

Luthor inwardly laughed at himself mockingly. He had prided himself for being very smart and cautious; always thinking ahead of others and always being the one reaping the profits...but he made one mistake...one moment of arrogance almost led to his destruction. His mistake had been that he tried to blackmail an individual as vicious as Naruto. Not only that it failed, Luthor was also handicapped - his tibia had been thoroughly smashed, his leg would never be the same.

Moreover, Luthor was clearly aware...aware of the fact that the day when he outlived his usefulness, that would be his last day. The thought that his life was in someone else's hands was like a hot iron in his heart. It made him seethe with helpless rage. And despite his brilliant intelligence, Luthor could simply not find a way out of this situation. Only one week passed from the incident on the secret prison island but Luthor was already contemplating doing something he never thought he would: suicide.

* * *

AN: I couldn't find a better title for this – Second Step. The title is about Naruto finally reaching the second step of his cultivation. The consequences of this fact will be fully displayed in the next chapter.

What do you think about Naruto's new, unlikely ally? More importantly, what do you think about my take on how Barbara Gordon became the Batgirl?

As usual, if you have questions, complaints or suggestions, you can address them to me through a PM or a review, however you find it easier - I always try to reply to all of my readers.

One more thing, I think it is impossible for me to work with a beta... usually there is such a long time between my updates that I forget who was my beta supposed to be. Plus, I have the weird quirk of wanting to publish a chapter as soon as possible after finishing it haha... sorry.

The next chapter will finally have the moment you have all been waiting for: Naruto meeting Galatea


	22. Chapter 22 - Fight at first sight

AN: I've said this before, but I want to remind you again: this is a fan fiction. That being said, while it follows roughly the Justice League animated series, I am taking the liberty to twist the timeline and some other events to my own needs. Just putting this here.

Hope you'll enjoy it :)

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 22 - Fight at first sight**

"Father, why are you awakening the girl after all this time?"

"Because we have to move out, Tea." Orochimaru replied.

The one Orochimaru called "Tea" scrunched her nose in displeasure.

"Is it because of General Danzo, or that fat bitch-"

"That language is unbecoming of someone of your stature." the scientist interrupted his daughter, looking deep into her eyes.

He had never screamed at her. He had never punished her in any way, ever since he had created her. But the young woman never disobeyed her father when he gave her that look.

"I'm sorry, father."

A gentle smile appeared on Orochimaru's pale face and he ruffled Galatea's blonde hair dotingly.

"It's alright as long as you understand it. Have some pride, some self-esteem. You have to know your worth. Someone like you cannot behave like an ordinary ruffian. Even more than so since you're a lady. How are you going to ever get married if you act more like a man than men themselves?"

"Dad!" the girl protested, a small flush colouring her perfect complexion. "I told you I don't need anyone! I have you already!"

The scientist palmed his forehead and sighed.

"What if someone that didn't know you would hear these words? What would they think about you?"

Galatea crossed her arms like a petulant child...only her body totally contrasted her behaviour if one were to look at the voluptuous breasts she was unknowingly pushing up with her arms.

"As if I cared about something as trivial as that. Those that don't know me, can take their opinions and shove them deep up their-"

A pointed look from Orochimaru made Galatea stop and gulp in guilt.

"Honestly, you're too much...where did you even hear these kind of words? You have certainly never heard me saying them."

As the duo kept conversing, their light banter did not distract Orochimaru from his real task - his fingers continued to tap on the keyboard of the computer at an impressive speed.

"To answer your questions, though, look here - " the scientist said and on the large screen, an image appeared.

It was the same picture that Superman showed Batman when he had busted into his home, in the middle of the night. The photo a street surveillance camera in Moscow had captured - that of Lex Luthor walking alongside a particular person, a very infamous one: Uzumaki Naruto.

"We have to leave because of him. No, this is not correct. We're moving our headquarters because we must not be caught, as they say, between the hammer and the anvil."

Galatea looked at photo on the screen and one surprisingly dainty finger went to her chin; she was making the connection between what she knew and the words Orochimaru just said.

"From what I heard of him, that man is no joke." Galatea said seriously, no trace of her usual arrogance.

"Kukuku." Orochimaru chuckled. "You have no idea how true your words are, my dear."

Galatea looked at her father in wonder...and expectation.

"Will he be hostile against us?"

Orochimaru laughed at her. She was radiating so much thirst for battle that her thoughts were like an open book for him - she was hoping for that to be the case so she would have a legitimate reason to fight him. Galatea always got like that at the sight of a potentially powerful opponent.

"If everything goes according to my plan, not only will he not be hostile, but actually grateful!"

"Danzo's and Waller's original plan had been to simply get rid of Uzumaki Misaki after we extracted everything of use from her... but it was thanks to my suggestion that she had been kept alive..."

"That's because I knew what kind of person Naruto used to be. True, this is a different life...But I didn't want to leave any loose ends. I didn't want to risk having someone like him chasing after me for the rest of my life."

Orochimaru looked at the screen to nothing in particular, too absorbed in his own memories.

"Even so," he said after a while "if my speculations are correct, Luthor must have blackmailed Naruto with his sister. Otherwise, he wouldn't have convinced him to obey him."

Galatea rephrased his words.

"So we're leaving because you want to take away from Cadmus the only tool that they could use in order to control Uzumaki... You just want to screw them over.."

"Your crass language aside, yes, this is my real intention." Orochimaru said and a smirk graced his pale complexion.

"Luthor, Cadmus...they have messed for too many times with forces that are outside of their understanding. Now, they will see first-hand what will happen when you jump at a bear with your hands empty."

 _Scene break_

Rupert Jones was sweating profusely.

 _'It's just me and him..'_

Rupert fidgeted nervously, as he looked at the still form of Naruto.

"Ahem!" the fatty dressed his voice in an attempt to get Naruto's attention and start a conversation. The silence was suffocating for him.

The fatty even sat up from his couch and passed by Naruto, two times, despite that he was still hurting and limping from the wound on his thigh...but Naruto had not even spared him a glance. His electric blue eyes were staring in front almost unblinkingly and if it weren't for the constant moving of his chest, one would think he was a very realistic wax doll.

 _'...Creepy.'_ the fatty shuddered.

"Erm... m-mister Uzumaki?" Rupert began eventually.

Naruto blinked like an owl for a few moments before turning his head towards Rupert.

"Yes, is there a problem?"

Rupert flinched. Naruto had asked him calmly, but for the jumpy fatty, everything Naruto did would be scary. He was like frightened deer.. a rather fat deer but a frightened deer nonetheless.

"I... could we talk for a few moments?"

"Go on." Naruto said.

Rupert fiddled with his meaty fingers for a few moments. This discussion would have been much more simple had things gone according to his original plan. He had wanted to nurse Naruto back to health as to plant a seed of gratitude in his heart. The problem was that his plan went to hell when another abnormality happened with Naruto back on the prison island – when the threads of lights had gathered around his body, wrapping him in a cocoon of light... after a few hours, a perfectly fine and better looking than ever Naruto appeared from within the fading cocoon of light.

That being said, Rupert was now in the situation of asking for a "favour", for "help". Not for a "reward" as he had initially planned for.

"I want to become your partner."

Naruto's handsome face showed confusion.

"Partner in what? Do you even know what is that I'm about to do in the future?"

"It doesn't matter, I'm ok with everything!" Rupert blurted out before he could stop himself.

 _'Way to go, Jones! Make him see your value by showing how desperate you are!'_ Rupert mocked himself sarcastically.

Naruto's electric blue eyes bored into Rupert's, small, beady ones. The fatty felt his heart start thumping as if he had just been electrocuted.

That wasn't an intentional action from Naruto's part. His mere will just had that much effect upon ordinary people after he transcended. He was not even aware of the effect any of his banal actions could have on the surrounding people.

"If I told you that I wanted to assassinate the USA president would you still join me?" Naruto spoke, his eyes still boring into Rupert's and the fatty feared that sparks were going to come out of them.

"If I told you that my goal was to kill your family, would you still do it? Join me in killing innocents?"

Rupert broke the eye contact and he clenched his fist into two meatballs. He steeled his resolve. Still looking down, Rupert spoke:

"I do not care either way... I don't have any family - I was abandoned at birth. Apparently, I've always been a fat and ugly fuck." Rupert said and laughed sarcastically.

"As for innocents or the president... Why should I care? I was an innocent too, when a criminal organisation kidnapped me for the first time. Did anyone come to rescue me? No."

"As for the president... When the government caught wind my abilities, instead of offering me protection, they only tried to use me."

Rupert lifted his eyes, to meet Naruto's.

"I do not want much. All I ever wanted was safety. This is all I ask for in exchange for offering you my abilities."

Naruto analysed his words and looked for any sign of deceit in his eyes.

"You make it sound like you have some sort of ridiculously overpowered abilities...just turning invisible and an enhanced sense of smell is honestly pitiful compared to what I can do."

Rupert's face nearly broke into a smile. Naruto showing interest in him was like having won half of the battle already - because for Rupert, convincing someone like Naruto felt truly like a battle.

"It's not my metahuman aspect that everyone was interested in."

Rupert's eyes shone.

"It is my programming skills. And my brain - my IQ is over 200."

Naruto seemed to enter into deep thought. What Rupert just said changed the situation completely. One minute passed in silence.

For Rupert Jones, that minute felt like an eternity. His breathing accelerated with the passing of each second and sweat began to pour from his forehead. Unknowingly, his right hand clenched on the fabric of the sofa, nearly tearing it apart.

"How can I possibly trust someone that I had met on a prison island for death-row criminals? What would you do in my place, Rupert?" Naruto suddenly asked.

"Say that you had a sister, or a person you loved... I would rest assured that you wouldn't betray me for the fear of me killing said person. But you are all alone... The worst that could happen to you is to die. And, for all I know, you might not necessarily fear death."

Naruto's voice never changed its tone. Even now, he was speaking calmly, merely stating the facts.

"That being said, give me a reason to trust you. I know that there is none...but who knows? With your IQ you should be able to think of something."

Naruto said and then turned his head away from Rupert, going back to staring blankly at the ceiling, in the same manner he had done before.

What Rupert didn't know was that Naruto was not just dumbly watching the wall and the ceiling if the room. He was deeply immersed into his thoughts planning on how to rescue his sister.

A while later, Naruto sat up and went to the luxurious balcony of the apartment - it was located in Luthor's tower and Metropolis in its entire splendour was laid at its feet. With his expression still unchanged, his feet suddenly left the ground...his body began to levitate!

Sitting now at the very top of the tower, Naruto watched the city wordlessly. From that height, the city looked like a swarm of ants.

"They are all going by their lives, worrying about ordinary things and enjoying the small things life."

"Their life is beautiful." Naruto sighed in longing.

He missed those days when his worries were resumed to just keeping the thugs away from his sister or training hard enough for his grandpa to be pleased with him.

True, he had been weak. Pitifully weak when compared to other metahumans. But life was simple back then. Now he had to deal with secret branches of the government, trained assassins, crazed metahumans and an entire league of heroes. And what annoyed him the most was that brute strength was no longer the solution to all the problems.

 _'I have to find a way to secure Misaki...while Luthor may have been terrified, others could react differently. For all I know they could carry a remote to a bomb that was planted on her location.'_

 _'This cannot be done using strength.'_

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed. He didn't like that he had to ask for help. Especially from that person... However, for his sister, he would easily step on his pride. Such things were trivial.

Naruto came to the edge of the tower...and jumped!

He was going to Gotham.

 _Scene break_

An alarm rang throughout the Watch Tower.

"What's happening?" Flash asked as he was the first to arrive at the large screen in the command room.

Martian Manhunter rose up from the floor. Soon after, the other members arrived as well.

"I was the one that pushed the alarm." the Martian said. "The mass of mystic energy that we have identified as Uzumaki Naruto has started to move from Lex Luthor's tower... towards Gotham."

Before anyone could say anything, Batman turned with the intention to leave.

"Wait! I'll be damned if I let you go alone to that monster!" John Stewart exclaimed and got into Batman's way.

"He's right, Bats. You're not doing this alone." Flash said too.

Batman glared at them.

"He is my responsibility - he's from Gotham. I though we've had an agreement all these years - we don't butt into each other's personal business."

"That may be so, but not for cases of this magnitude. Uzumaki's threat level is on a different scale. Besides, what could you, alone, do against someone like him? Last time - when we assume that he was much weaker - he took down so many of us." Superman retorted.

Batman was not impressed and countered with his own argument.

"We've been monitoring his energy signature in the past few days. And he has been only in Lex Luthor's tower the entire time. Now let me ask you one thing: do you really think that someone who just got out of prison would simply stay locked in a room for days?"

"Are you saying that we've been fooled the entire time?" Hawkgirl asked clearly pissed at the thought of someone leading them by the nose.

"Uzumaki Naruto proved to be a very resourceful individual. It's not that hard to believe that found a way to do so. We all remember that he can make copies of himself..." Martian Manhunter explained.

Using J'onn's line of thought, Batman continued:

"That means that since we can see that his energy signature is moving, he wanted us to see it. I think he wanted me, in particular, to notice it."

"Do not follow me. We do not want to screw up what could be the only chance we have to interact with him in a neutral fashion."

Not waiting for an answer, Batman got into his aircraft.

 _Scene break_

A black jet landed on the roof of one of Gotham's towers. A dark cloaked silhouette jumped out of it and studied the surroundings. But his sharp eyes couldn't notice a thing.

Suddenly, he felt the cold touch of a bone blade at his throat. For a moment, Batman felt cold shudders. He used to be a ninja. Probably the second best in the entire world. He was a master of stealth and blending in the shadows...yet this time, he could not feel this person sneaking up on him. Something like that had never happened to him before. Never.

A voice reached his ears.

"I assume you were smart enough to come alone?"

"Yes."

"Good." the voice acknowledged.

Naruto removed the bone knife from Batman's throat and then he made a one hand ram seal. A small wave of chakra was released and the genjutsu that he had placed over the roof, faded away.

In Batman's vision, Naruto's body materialised out of thin air, as if he had the ability to turn invisible. Batman couldn't have possibly known that Naruto was able to create illusions.

"Do you have any secure place for us to talk? I have very important matters to discuss with you." Naruto said.

Batman nodded and headed towards his plane.

"Get in. We're going to one of my secret bases."

A short moment later, Batman and Naruto arrived at the villa where Batman had holed himself in to defend against an eventual attack from Superman. Not only that it was a secure place, but it also gave Batman a sense of safety - that's because the tubes capable of expelling lethal gases were still fully functional. Should their discussion take a wrong turn, Batman could depend on this system to protect himself.

Seated now at a conference table, Naruto started to speak directly, skipping any sort of pleasantries. Neither him nor Batman were fans of them anyway.

"I came here to make a deal with you."

Batman narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"What could you possibly need from me?"

Naruto's right hand pressed over the seal inscribed on the band he was wearing on his left wrist. A puff of smoke appeared and Batman tensed, ready to press the red button placed beneath the table. However, betraying his expectations, in that plum of smoke, the only thing that appeared...was a photo.

"My sister. She is alive. I need her location."

At his words, everything clicked for Batman.

 _'So this is how Luthor is able to keep Uzumaki around himself!'_ Batman exclaimed to himself. _'He must be using her to blackmail him.'_

"And what is that I get in return? You said that this was a deal - what is that you're offering in exchange?"

"I have information. Valuable information."

Seeing Batman waiting for more details, Naruto continued.

"The kind of information that would give your little league of heroes a chance of survival."

Batman tensed.

"What do you mean by that?"

Naruto didn't explain. He asked first:

"Do we have a deal first?"

Batman nodded without hesitation. He believed that Uzumaki would not try to screw him over. After all, it was in Naruto's interest for Batman to hold his end of the deal.

"The government cloned Supergirl. Yes, they cloned the big guy's cousin."

Batman was not one to let emotions rule his behaviour, but when he heard Naruto's following words, both of his fist clenched:

"And they are fairly confident about the clone being more powerful than Superman himself. They aged her body till the point where it reached its peak condition. Luthor told me that also Supergirl's body is stronger than that of Superman when he was her age. That means that if the clone reached her maturity-"

"-it could truly become more powerful." Batman continued his words.

"Wait, things are getting even worse." Naruto said. "They clone they have crated is immune to Kryptonite."

Batman rose up from his seat secretly distressed. He couldn't imagine a way for someone that was not a god to defeat Superman fair and square without Kryptonite. This new development was totally out of his expectations.

"Besides the clone, the government assembled an entire team of metahumans. Expendables." Naruto continued "They are planning on eliminating the Justice League."

"I have a question. Where do you come in all of this?" Batman asked.

"The weapon they created proved to be more perfect than intended. They fear the eventuality of it slipping away from their grasp - and this is where I come in. I am the one who is supposed to terminate it should the need come."

"I have my hands tied. As long as they have Misaki I can only dance into their palm." Naruto admitted.

"Batman."

"Yes?"

Naruto paused for a few moments.

"I am very powerful now. Powerful enough to be confident that Superman would stand no chance against me - that being the case especially since the very core of my abilities were seemingly made to counter him."

"What I am trying to say is that should I be deployed to fight against the league-"

"Is that a threat?" Batman asked with his eyes narrowed in a glared.

Naruto though, remained as calm as ever.

"I'm merely stating a fact."

"Ask yourself: what would happen if I were to be ordered to aid the battle against the League?"

"Will any of you survive?"

 _Scene break_

"So, for how long are we all going to be waiting here?" a woman with short red hair huffed in annoyance.

"Patience, princess." a one-eyed man said lazily.

"You have a problem, Lawton?" the woman retorted, ready to start a fight.

"Colonel Flaggs said not to fight. He'll smack the puddin' out of you."

"Hm~ I wouldn't mind him doing just that." another redhead moaned and fire started to flicker at the tips of her fingers.

Everyone was arguing against the one next to him, one was juggling with deadly sharp boomerangs, another one was making tricks with handling guns like you'd see in western movies...there was no sense of order. It was like a pandemonium.

On the other side of the room, a man with pale face and smooth long black hair was sipping casually from a cup of tea, as if nothing was concerning him. He had a lab coat on top of his normal clothes, signifying that he had been called to come over while he was working. Next to him, a beautiful young woman was seated. She was dressed in a white, skin tight body suit that covered only the upper part of her body, leaving her long and fit legs exposed. Despite how gorgeous she looked, none of the males in the room dared to glance in her direction lest they be killed. Literally. There was a gap between these two aloof persons and the rest of the occupants of the room.

Just as a blonde woman grabbed a metal baseball bat to start fighting against the man wielding boomerangs, 4 people entered the room.

"Will you all cut it out?!" a scream was heard from the one the 4 newcomers and everyone quieted down in a heartbeat.

It was a black woman, quite fat. She had short hair and she was dressed in a blue suit. Her name was Amanda Waller, the one responsible for everyone gathered in that place.

The other one was Lex Luthor, their main sponsor. But he looked changed this time around. He no longer had that air of superiority around himself and one of his legs was in a cast. The third one was also a well-known figure for everyone gathered there because, after all, it had been him, general Danzo, that had blackmailed most of the present people into joining the cause.

When the last person entered, however, most of the occupants jumped up from their seats startled.

It was a blond haired man in his early twenties. He was tall - easily above 6 feet - and his entire body, while it was not packed with huge muscles, it was very well built, giving off a feeling of extreme strength. Each on of his muscles seemed to have been trained to perfection. It was the ideal body for a warrior. Compared to his physical appearance, his clothes were just plain black.

It was when they took in his facial features that everyone sucked in a breath of cold air - they could never forget who was the one whose cheeks were marred by 3 pairs of whisker like marks. That's because what he had done two years before had remained engraved into everyone's mind forever. Uzumaki Naruto was a living legend.

At the sight of Naruto entering through the door, a fire started to burn into Galatea's chest. Anticipating his daughter's actions, Orochimaru tried to grab her by the shoulder... However, his reflexes simply proved to be too slow. Galatea's speed was so extreme that she seemed to have blurred out of sight.

An instant later...

 _*bang*_

A deafening sonic boom thundered and a shockwave exploded from the impact of two hard surfaces. The shockwave produced was so powerful the everyone was blown up their feet and thrown towards the edge of the room. It was as though a grenade had been detonated.

At the door, two silhouettes were in a 15 feet in diameter crater, locked in a contest of strength.


	23. Chapter 23 - Kyuubi-sama

AN:

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

 **"Hello" -** Kyuubi talking

* * *

 _Previous Chapter_

 _*bang*_

 _A deafening sonic boom thundered and a shockwave exploded from the impact of two hard surfaces. It was so powerful that everyone was blown up their feet and thrown towards the edge of the room. It was as though a grenade had been detonated._

 _At the door, two silhouettes were in a 15 feet in diameter crater, locked in a contest of strength._

* * *

 **Chapter 23 - Kyuubi-** _ **sama**_

The two suddenly jumped back and made some distance between them. In that moment, Amanda Waller was the first that broke out of from her stupor.

"What's the meaning of this?!" she yelled. "Stop this at once!"

But the two looked as if they didn't hear her, their eyes fixed on each other, on guard against a sudden move one of them would employ.

Waller was not used to being ignored. She was a person with authority, to the point that her words could sway even the president. She pressed a button on a remote she always carried on herself. A deafening alarm started to scream and, in a few moments, the door of the now ruined conference room was smashed apart, revealing over thirty armed operatives.

At their sight, Galatea was the first to back off. Her father was just a human. She didn't want him to become the target of a "stray bullet".

Naruto on the other side, looked as indifferent as ever. He simply took a seat on one of the still intact chairs in the room and waited for them to start talking.

Amanda Waller's anger did not last long. Apparently, that wasn't the first time Galatea disobeyed her. General Danzo though, was fuming. He was glaring at Galatea in a way that you'd think he was trying to kill her with his eyes.

Tired to be patient after waiting for a few minutes for one of them to start talking, Naruto was starting to get annoyed. It was already a rather weird situation for so many people to just stare at each other without making a move.

"I want to see my sister. I want proof that she is alive. I want proof that it's really her, that she isn't some clone you created with the purpose of using me. And I want it now."

His words broke Waller from her thoughts. Her eyes narrowed at him.

"We cannot do that now. There are other things more impor-"

Her words stopped in her throat when black lightning exploded from Naruto's body.

"Aside from the clone, I could kill every single person in this room, in an instant, before you'd even have the time to blink. There won't be even a corpse left behind, you will all turn into ash."

"Deadshot!" Waller yelled.

However, in the next moment with a stomp of Naruto's foot, the floor turned into fine powder as the lightning travelled towards its target.

Deadshot had not had the time to even let out a scream. His body dispersed into ash. Even the special laser weapon he had been preparing to shoot at Naruto became nothing but a handful of iron dust.

The people gathered in the room were some of the worst criminals out there. Yet they all stepped back in terror at what they have just witnessed. At how casually a top-tier assassin lost his life. In an instant.

"I think you have forgotten who are you dealing with. I am no hero. I am a murderer. I'll kill everyone that stands in my way. President? Priest? Army general? You are all just ants in my eyes."

"Now...does my request hold importance or you still have other priorities? Should I kill another one first? Hmm...?"

"You won't get away with this, Uzumaki! If I die, your sister will die as well!" Waller threatened.

"Galatea! What are you waiting for? Kill him!" General Danzo yelled.

Galatea simply ignored him but, for good measure, Orochimaru grabbed her by the arm.

"Tea, we should leave."

"Why?"

"Waller is aware that Naruto will start a killing spree if he doesn't get to see his sister. She is going to give in any moment now and when it will happen, they will want to see Misaki..."

"...whom we have moved to our secret base, away from Cadmus. They will discover that you betrayed them." Galatea said, completing her father's words.

"Indeed." Orochimaru nodded.

But as they talked Danzo arrived right next to them and grabbed Galatea by the shoulder, trying to shake her roughly.

"You useless bitch, I told you to-"

The old general didn't get to finish his words as a brutal backhand to his face sent him hurling into the wall on the opposite of the room.

The skin on the right side of Danzo's face got ripped by the force of the blow, and his right eye burst out into a bloody paste.

 _'How ironic.'_ Orochimaru mused. _'Just like in my previous life.'_

Looking at the situation, Orochimaru made a decision.

 _'This organisation's days are numbered. And I no longer need it.'_

With that thought in mind, Orochimaru said, his voice carrying a hint of amusement.

"Galatea, also break his right arm from the elbow."

The girl looked at her father with her eyebrows raised. Orochimaru was not one for cruelty. But seeing the calculative expression on his face, Galatea understood that there must be a hidden reason behind his actions.

A sickening crack was heard and Danzo's right arm was snapped from the elbow. But there was no sound coming from Danzo, him having lost his consciousness before that.

"Now he looks more like the original. Only some bandages are needed. But I'm sure the doctors will fetch them...that, if he survives. Kukuku."

At Orochimaru's words, the corners of Naruto's mouth involuntarily raised up in dark amusement. But then, the reality hit him and he looked at the scientist sharply. The smirk he sported made Naruto understand the message Orochimaru had wanted to transmit.

 _'He knows who I really am. He knows about my past life. He remembers his own past life.'_

"Galatea, we're leaving." Orochimaru said casually, as if there wasn't a dangerous person capable of killing him in an instant in front of him.

Waller looked back and forth from Naruto to Orochimaru. She couldn't understand what was the odd feeling she got that the two of them somehow knew each other.

Before anyone had the chance to stop them, a small metallic ball fell off from the scientist's hand. Grey smoke burst from it and by the time it dissipated, Orochimaru and Galatea were no longer there.

On the floor, a note was left:

 _Cadmus doesn't have your sister. I do._

 _Scene break_

In the forests of Appalachian Mountains, Naruto was barely controlling his anger. He went away from civilization so he wouldn't unnecessarily hurt random people in his rage.

"I could've killed them all! I could've slaughtered everyone there!" he said through gnashed teeth.

Although it was in his power to do so, the circumstances forced him not to. What if Orochimaru killed Misaki in retaliation? What if they planted a chip inside her brain, set to explode at their command? He hated it. He hated the feeling of playing into someone's hands.

Leaping into thee air, Naruto started to jump from the branch of a tree to another. Although he had the experiences of his past life, shinobi-travelling through the trees was much harder than it seemed. The reason for that was that the trees on Earth could hardly compare in height and thickness with the towering trees in his previous life. Given the insane speed with which he jumped from a tree to another, Naruto felt as though each one of them were just a second away from snapping under his weight. It required a great deal of concentration from him. And because of that, he inadvertently calmed down, his mind becoming serene again.

Suddenly, the sound of a familiar voice rumbled in his mind:

 **"Naruto."**

His focus lost for a moment, Naruto's landing on a branch was a tad more forceful than it should have been.

 _*crack*_

The tree branch snapped under his feet and Naruto found himself plunging towards the ground.

Right before crashing, a massive amount of chakra was expelled from him, stabilizing his body in mid air, at a very odd angle.

"Kurama!" Naruto exclaimed, his tone not managing to hide the genuine happiness he felt at hearing his old companion's voice.

Naruto adjusted his position in mid-air and started to gain altitude, levitating himself at great speed towards the summit of the mountain. The peak was devoid of any trees, short grass being the only vegetation given the altitude. He sat on the grassy ground, his eyes admiring the beautiful scenery spread below him.

"Where have you been, Kurama? Nearly two weeks passed since what happened on the island...I ...I thought you died."

 **"Did you just admit you were missing me?"**

"Yes."

 **"Tsk, you're no fun."** Kyuubi said in dissatisfaction. There was no fun in teasing someone about something when said person was so openly admitting it.

 **"I actually nearly died back then."** Kyuubi said.

Naruto kept his silence.

 **"However,"** the fox continued **"the saying that sometimes disasters might be blessings in disguise was true this time."**

Wondering what Kyuubi meant by that, Naruto didn't expect his following words.

"I have gathered nine tails' worth of chakra. I am ready to regain my own body!"

 _Scene break_

On a plane plateau, a powerful looking silhouette landed a bit roughly.

 **"Look at you! How did you even get the ability to fly?"**

"Well, perks of being awesome. You wouldn't understand that so don't try to."

 **"Tsk! You'll be calling me Kyuubi-sama by the time I finally regained my body!"**

"Yada-yada. Even in our previous life, you've never been able to fly."

Kyuubi growled.

 **"You call flying that shitty flailing in mid-air? You lost half of your chakra reserves just by flying a bit more than 5 miles."**

"You know the saying - the fox that can't reach the grapes says they're sour. Haha!" Naruto burst into laughter. "Can't believe just how well it fits the situation."

 **"Shut up!"** Kyuubi shouted and growled in embarrassment. **"Get on with the sealing ritual already!"**

Naruto stopped making fun of him and got to business.

A long and deadly-looking bone protruded from his palm until he held a 3 feet long sword-like bone. However, this time it looked way too different from what Kyuubi had expected.

 **"What the hell is wrong with your bones?!"** Kyuubi asked alarmed.

"Oh, you didn't know that?"

 **"Of course I don't, that's why I'm asking, idiot. I've been hibernating the entire time, does this not ring a bell to you?"**

Naruto ignored the fox' snarky sarcasm in favour of taking the opportunity to gloat a bit in front of him.

"That lightning changed my entire body. Not only I became taller and got more physical strength than ever, I feel like the very essence of my body was changed. My chakra reserves reached the level of the ones I've had in my previous life, without taking count of yours and all my internal organs were strengthened - I don't think poisons work on me anymore, I can hold my breath for more than an hour and the stamina of my body is limitless as long as I still have chakra. And I know that this is not everything...the more I study my own body, the more I discover."

Kyuubi was deeply amazed at the changes in Naruto's body. The speed of his chakra's regeneration alone was crazy, to the point that Kyuubi managed to gather in two weeks the amount of chakra that he had struggled to gather for years, prior to the change.

 **"What about the bone sword in your hand?"** Kyuubi asked, his initial question having remained unanswered.

Naruto glanced at the bone he conjured in his hand. It looked as if it had been cut from a diamond. It had an azure-blue colour and it was nearly transparent, like a crystal. The sharp edges of the bone blade, however, were giving off a deadly vibe, looking as though it could cut through everything.

 **"I think my bones are no longer bones in the familiar sense of the word."**

The crystal-like bone blade in his hand was suddenly engulfed in black lightning. Just by doing that, the clothes on Naruto's upper body were scorched and turned into ash, revealing his muscular torso.

"They feel now as if they are made of pure chakra. The way chakra flows through them is just like it flows through the meridians of my body."

 **"Naruto...are you turning into a tailed beast?"** Kyuubi asked in a weird tone.

Naruto fell silent at Kyuubi's words. The tailed beasts were beings consisting of pure chakra. Every part of them could be transformed into chakra - that was the reason they could be sealed despite their humongous size. If his skeleton was now made of pure chakra, then what was next? Naruto didn't know what to feel about the matter.

"Anyway," Naruto concluded "we should focus on the matter at hand. We'll have time to discuss more about other things later on."

Crossing his fingers in a hand seal, 4 clones puffed into existence. The 4 clones slammed their palm into the ground which started to show signs of cracking. Four crystal-like bones with the size of a tree trunk burst from the soil, raising up until they reached over 50 feet in height.

The clones shunshined on the top of the gigantic bones.

"We're ready boss!" one of them shouted.

Using the crystal-like bone sword in his hand, Naruto started to draw a very large circle. From time to time, one of the clones from atop the bone pillars created another clone next to it and dispelled afterwards, informing the original that way of the mistakes he made in carving the circle.

Kyuubi insisted on the fact that the circle had to be flawless which made the simple act becoming much more difficult, that being the case especially given the size of it - when Naruto finally finished drawing it, the circle was 60 feet in diameter.

The clones dispelled and Naruto made 29 more clones.

"Now which are the kanji we have to carve?"

The image of a different kanji appeared in the mind of Naruto and each of his clones. With azure-blue bone swords in their hands, Naruto and his clones began to carve deep into the soil.

Eventually, after hours of meticulous work, the sealing circle and its formulae were finally finished.

"Now we only need one more thing: a live and healthy fox."

 _Scene break_

"Are you fucking serious, Kurama?! This is the 9th fox I caught today, what the heck is not good about it?!"

 **"The snout is too pointed, it looks like a female. You think the great Kyuubi-sama will accept looking like that?"**

The 30th fox Naruto had caught was a quite large specimen for its race. It was even bigger than some of the mid-sized races of dogs.

 **"Turn the fox on its back so I can see its genitals."**

"...I can't believe this..."

Naruto was at a loss of words. Ignoring how the fox tried to sink its sharp canines into his arms, he turned it on its back.

 **"Its penis is too small compared to the size of its body. Next."**

Naruto couldn't help a frustrated yell.

"Argh! Are you frigging kidding me?!"

He felt like strangling both Kyuubi and to fox in his hands to death.

Kyuubi, however was not one to back down in that moment.

 **"Shut up! I did not care about such things before as bijuu were not beings that could reproduce. But now, to regain my body, I need to use an anchor in the material world. A fox. This anchor is going to provide most of the characteristics of my new body! That means that I would also get its reproductive system!"**

At the end of his small rant, Kyuubi nearly shouted due to embarrassment:

 **"So, if I have to do it anyway, then I need to be the best at it. I don't want a small dick!"**

The ridiculousness of the situation proved too much for Naruto's exhausted nerves. He burst into a crazed laughter.

"Hahaha! Kyuubi no Kitsune, the mighty and all-powerful Demon Fox is worried about having a small dick!"

"This is gold!"

"I-I can't... help... I'm dying!" Naruto barely gasped as he was rolling on the ground, clutching at his sides and howling with laughter.

In Naruto's inner words, Kyuubi felt like wanting to die right then and there. He had never felt more shame in his entire life.

 **"SHUT UP!"** Kyuubi roared. **"At least I have plans of using my dick for something, unlike you, virgin lord!"**

"What was that?" Naruto yelled back at him, his laughter dying out abruptly.

 **"You heard me. Baaaaka! Technically you're 36 years old, counting your previous life and you still haven't even seen how real pussy look like!"**

 **"You don't even jack off. Is your dick even working properly? Are you impotent?"**

Under Kurama's vicious slaughter of words, Naruto did not even know how to respond.

After a long while, he said:

"So that's how it is, huh? Ok then. I'll look for the fox with smallest dick possible."

 **"YOU DARE?!"**

 _Scene break_

The 47th caught fox...

 **"Its fur looks like a frog pissed on it."**

Naruto refused to create a mental image of how would something like that be even possible.

The 55th caught fox...

 **"Not bad looking beauty-wise... but too young."**

Hearing Naruto's animal-like growl, Kurama made a compromise.

 **"We'll keep it as a plan B, ok? Just in case we don't find anything good by the end of the week."**

"End of the week?" Naruto yelled in outrage. He and his clones had already swarmed over a quarter of the Appalachian mountains' surface for the past three days.

"I'm getting really tired of your shit, Kurama... you're not the only one that is on my mind now, you know? It's been 3 days since I found out who does actually have my sister, yet I have not even had the chance to search for her whereabouts. I've been chasing wild foxes instead, for 3 days straight, because your standards are too ridiculous to be met!"

Seeing the truth in Naruto's voice, Kyuubi did feel a bit guilty. But then again, he reminded himself that he was going to be stuck with the new body for an eternity. He was in no way going to settle for anything less than the best.

 **"Tell you what, Naruto. Sacrifice these two remaining days of the week for me. I understand how much you wish to find your sister, but it's been years without her. What's 2 more days? We're partners, aren't we? We help each other in times of need."**

Naruto sighed but didn't say anything else in return. He recalled how Kyuubi almost sacrificed his life in order to save him.

For the next 5 days, not 2, not even once a complaint has left from Naruto's mouth again. Diligently, him and nearly more than a hundred of his clones scurried the entire Appalachian Mountains, all the way to Canada and back.

Eventually, what could be considered as the perfect specimen in Kyuubi's eyes was finally captured. Naruto found the fox in a trap near a small village at the foot of the mountains, near the border between USA and Canada, on his way back. The fox's size was perfect for its species, indicating a healthy diet, its fur lustrous fur had not even a scratch on it and its tail was long and beautiful. Furthermore, it also met Kyuubi's standards regarding its genitals.

It was the 144th fox Naruto had captured.

 _Scene break_

"W-What is this?" Kyuubi cried out.

However, instead of a mighty rumble worthy of a demon, it was a squeak that had come out.

"Is this the fierce Nine-Tailed Demon Fox?" Naruto asked, his face red from the strenuous effort he exerted to reign in his laughter.

Kyuubi himself barely registered Naruto's mockery. He was too shocked.

"You'll be calling me Kyuubi-sama by the time I finally regained my body." Naruto repeated Kyuubi's words from a few days, using a gruff voice, a poor imitation of Kyuubi's previous demonic-sounding voice.

Previously, when Naruto poured his chakra into the gigantic sealing array, the scene was spectacular to say the least. A crimson energy burst from the sealing circle high up into the air and the sky was instantly covered by dark clouds cackling with lightning. It looked like one of the scenes Naruto saw in an anime where a demon lord was summoned.

And when he thought that the result of that badass scenes was the...thing in front of him, he burst into laughter, not able to hold it in any longer.

"Bwahaha! Wha-What is this?!"

Wobbling on his feet because of laughter, Naruto went in the middle of the circle and grabbed Kyuubi by the scruff of his neck.

"Is this pupper you, Kyuubi- _sama_?" Naruto asked before starting snickering again like a hyena.

"These cute paws, this adorable little snout, the fluffy tails and the squeaky voice... After seeing you, I need to fight bare-handed a grizzly bear to get some of my manliness back."

"Bwahaha!"

"You'll be calling me Kyuubi-sama!"

"Bwahahahha!"

With a length of 1 foot (without the tail) and a height of 8-9 inches, Kyuubi had the body of a fox even smaller than the specimen Naruto had captured for him. Just a bit bigger than a fox cub. A nine-tailed fox cub.

* * *

AN: I laughed my ass out while writing this chapter xD

(I have corrected some of the mistakes thanks to **Fuyuriku.** Thank you!)


	24. Chapter 24 - Kyuubi's secret

AN:

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 24 - Kyuubi's secret**

Snowflakes were drifting softly in the air. It was night and the weather outside made everyone retreat into the inviting heat of their home. Even in a great city like Gotham, the streets were empty that night. It was unusually cold.

It was the first snow of that year. What would normally be a reason for joy for normal people, did nothing to diminish the frustration and sorrow a certain individual was experiencing in that moment.

Said individual was sitting on the edge of a skyscraper, watching the desolate scenery as a blanket of snow slowly covered the empty streets. Despite the extreme cold outside, he was dressed in a surprisingly light outfit consisting of just a pair of black baggy pants, black sneakers made of a soft material and a black top - it was the traditional ninja outfit, identical to the one he had used to wear for a few months as a mercenary, before having been thrown into prison. However, his head was not covered by the balaclava, which made it possible for his identity to be recognized in an instant - he was none other than Uzumaki Naruto.

"He had assured me that the entire Justice League is making efforts in finding out Misaki's whereabouts... they're all nothing but pieces of shit!" Naruto muttered darkly when he thought back at his meeting with Batman that took place just a few moments before on that rooftop.

It was the beginning of December. Nearly 2 weeks passed since Naruto killed Deadshot during his first contact with Cadmus and 3 weeks since he had asked Batman to help him find his sister in exchange for the information he had provided him about USA government's secret agenda, namely Cadmus. Despite that, Batman just told him that neither him, nor the Justice League could find any trace of Misaki.

"He can break into all the government's classified files. He's supposed to be some sort of genius at everything. One of them is a telepath that could read the minds of the entire city's population at the same time. Another one has super speed. Two of them are fancy-ass magicians and either one could cast a spell to locate Misaki in a heartbeat. Yet none of them could find even a trace her? Bullshit!" Naruto said angrily.

He was pissed. But he understood the reason. In Justice League's eyes Naruto was nothing but a mass murderer. What Naruto was not aware was that they were actually seeing him just as they were seeing Darkseid - a dangerous animal that needed to be put down. Why would they help him with anything?

His mind then went to Kyuubi. The now puny fox said he could not help him for a while seeing as he needed to acclimate himself with the new feeling of his 5 senses. But he promised that after that, he would trace Misaki's scent. Kyubi assured him that nothing will stop them from finding her. But more than a week passed and Kyuubi had yet to tell him that he was ready.

On top of a skyscraper, in the thick of the night, the time passed as he stood amidst the slowly falling snowflakes, seemingly lost in a trance. Eventually, he let out a long sigh.

His eyes fell on his right hand. Under his control, bones protruded through the tips of his fingers, taking the appearance of tiger-like claws. Glancing at the translucent blue colour of his bones, he couldn't help the melancholy that overtook him. He contemplated his life during the last three years.

"I was just a human. A delinquent that went to school only so he could watch over his sister..."

"Now look at what I have become." he said as his clawed fingers sunk into the concrete border of the building's roof as if it was pudding.

His attention also shifted towards the beating coming from his heart...or better said, from his two hearts. He was getting the chills at just thinking what a mess the inside of his body must be. How did his body even work properly with a chakra-skeleton? How is it possible for the chakra heart to actually become corporeal?

He wondered: how would his life have been had nothing happened to his sister? How would his life been had his grandfather not been killed? And ultimately...How would his life been had he not failed to kill Uchiha Madara in his previous life?

A torrent of questions flooded him. Regret naturally surfaced. Until then, he had never taken the time to think profusely about his life. After his grandfather was murdered, he had preoccupied his mind with giving Misaki perfect living conditions. After he thought that she was killed, his entire being was consumed by a burning desire for vengeance. Then, when he was thrown in prison, as if he had become numb to everything around him, he had ceaselessly trained for two years.

"I've regained my freedom..." Naruto said to himself.

"And I've become more powerful than I have ever been on my own..."

"Soon, I will find my sister and slaughter everyone that had taken a part in this..."

"But after that? What then?"

Naruto's eyes fell on his clawed hand. He retracted the bones into his hand, the skin naturally closing up as if it had never been punctured in the first place.

What was going to happen after that? Will he live together with his sister happily ever after? Would he be able to do it?

"No...would she even look at me with the same eyes after all that happened?"

What would her reaction be after watching the video of him torturing the Joker to death? What would she think of him after finding out that he had murdered over a hundred people in Arkham Asylum?

And then, the question he was the most afraid of, came:

"What will I do if she rejects me?"

For the first time since Misaki's apparent death, Naruto looked back at his life. For the first time since that incident, regret surfaced.

"Even if she were to accept me regardless of who I have become... would I be able to live an ordinary life?"

Standing there, contemplating his life, many hours passed unknowingly. A thick blanket of snow covered the entire city. Morning came and with it, the city's life seemed to return as well. The streets become filled with cars and busses and crowds of people flooded the sidewalks. Covered in snow, on the top of the skyscraper, he struck a lonely figure as we watched the world below.

Another long sigh came out of his mouth. Lightning suddenly flashed across his body and the snow that had been accumulating on top of him was instantly dispersed.

He remembered the words his grandpa had once told him:

"There is a time to rest and a time to train. There is a time to cry out and a time to endure. There is a time to think and a time to act. Everything must be done at its own time."

As the thin tendrils of black lightning danced over his body, Naruto murmured.

"It's not the time for me to rest yet. It's not the time for me to fall in my thoughts yet..."

"I'll make sure my sister is safe and that the ones behind her kidnapping are dealt with."

"I'll have time to think about my life later."

 _Scene break_

Swapping his card on the lock, the metallic door opened. He was now in the apartment that Lex Luthor had offered him in his tower.

"G-Good morning, Naruto." a voice came from the other side of the room. A very fat teenager was carefully sipping from his coffee, his small and beady eyes looking at him nervously. Two weeks have passed since they became partners in name but Rupert was still as afraid of Naruto as he had been after seeing the Prison Island carnage.

"Have you seen my fox?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. He asked me half an hour ago how to..."

But the Naruto couldn't hear clearly the end of his sentence as Rupert's voice became an unintelligible mumble.

"Care to repeat that?"

Rupert gulped.

"H-He asked me to teach him how to use the internet..." the fatty said, his eyes looking to the side in what Naruto perceived as discomfort.

"He...he confiscated my laptop. He is in your room..."

Naruto was stumped for words. He didn't think that in his absence Kyuubi would bully Rupert like that. Even so, he was quite curious, just what could a former bijuu, currently a fox cub, could possibly do with a laptop?!

When he arrived in front of the door leading to his room, Naruto tsk-ed. It was closed. Apparently, he won't be able to catch the fox red-handed in whatever he was doing...unless Kyuubi won't be able to react in time and hide the signs of his previous activities.

With that thought in mind, Naruto abruptly rushed inside, slamming the door open. A clatter of things falling down was heard when he entered and his eyes eyes fell on the nine-tailed fox cub that was standing on two feet like a human. His tails were spread widely along with his hands, in a desperate attempt to cover the screen of the laptop.

After that split of second of surprise, Kyuubi quickly pushed the screen of the laptop down, his heart beating as if it was about to jump out of his little chest.

"What are you hiding there, Kurama?" Naruto asked insidiously.

Kyuubi felt himself starting to sweat.

"N-Nothing!"

"Now, now, that wasn't very convincing you know?"

His hand went to touch the laptop...only for one of Kyuubi's tails to slap it away.

"Why would you stop me if you didn't have anything to hide?"

If foxes could blush, Kyuubi would probably be steaming at that moment.

"Hehe. Seeing you acting like that only makes me want to see your secret even more."

"S-Shut up! That's none of your business. Can a fox not get any privacy in this house?"

Naruto lost it. He couldn't reign in his laughter anymore.

"Bwahah!"

"The high school white teen girl _needs_ her privacy!"

Naruto choked on his laughter though when a deceptively long red tail slammed into his midsection.

* _bang_ *

His body broke through the wall of his bedroom and crashed into the living room, right next to Rupert who stiffened in panic like a statue.

Although he looked miserable, Naruto had not even a scratch on him. It was only the wall and the furniture that were reduced to rubble.

"You've done it this time. You've got no idea for how long have I wanted to kick your ass.." Naruto growled when he got back to his feet.

"Right back at you, asshole!" Kurama shouted at him trying to sound menacing but his squeaky voice ruined everything.

With that, both of then lunged at each other like like a pair of savage barbarians.

Naruto ducked under the slash of one of Kyuubi's tails and grabbed it with both of his hands.

* _bang_ *

Holding the fox cub by one of his tails, Naruto slammed him into the floor. Then, he lightly threw him in the air and kicked him as if he were a football. The fox was sent through the large windows of the living room like a rocket, breaking through them.

Kyuubi's red slit eyes met Naruto's deep blue. A mocking expression was in the puny fox' eyes, as if he was asking: _'Is that all you've got? My grandma hits harder than you!'_

However, Naruto's eyes went to his room and a smirk crept up on his face.

It was then that Kyuubi saw through Naruto's actions as well. However, it was one second too late. He had been thrown through the window and he was...falling from a height of a few hundred feet.

Naruto laughed gleefully. He quickly went into this room and opened the laptop - the reason he threw Kyuubi through the window was so that he could see what his secret was.

When the laptop was switched from sleep mode to active, a moaning sound filled the room.

"Ahhh! Master! Fuck your slutty kitten harder!"

Bent over a kitchen counter, a blue-furred cat-like female humanoid was having her ass penetrated roughly by a red-furred fox-like male humanoid.

It was animated furry porn.

"..."

"You nasty son of bitch!"

* * *

AN: Kyuubi was watching furry porn, imagining himself to be the fox while Matatabi was the cat lol xDD

This was a shorter chapter, but it was necessary to be like that. The first half of it is especially important for Naruto's future character development. With the following chapter, however, the action will start.

 _(No beta and I'm not an English native either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	25. Chapter 25 - Viciousness

AN: I won't even try to apologize...it's way too late to apologize given than it's been more than 3 months since I last updated this. My other 2 stories had been on a hiatus for a while as well but I still started updating them a few weeks ago.

Well, I can only hope you're still into in this story. Read my bio if you're interested in why are my updates so frigging slow. Still, from now on, the updates will come faster.

Here's the new chapter, enjoy!

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 25 - Viciousness**

A slight tremor shook the entire facility. In the command room, a large warning sign appeared on the enormous screen.

"He's coming." a man dressed in a lab coat said meaningfully.

A girl that appeared to be in her late teens or early 20s stood up tense.

"Are you sure it's him and not Cadmus?" she asked.

"Oh, I am sure... at the very least, technology cannot aid anyone in finding this place - and we did eliminate that magic user that Cadmus had employed."

Silence descended for a while. Another tremor was felt, this time stronger than before.

"What are the video cameras showing?" the young woman asked.

The middle-aged man typed quickly on the keyboard and a blurry video started playing.

A blond man surrounded by black lightning was shown destroying everything in his way like a berserker, leaving only charred and dismembered bodies as he passed. One of the guards fired a bazooka at him, at point blank...only for him to catch the projectile in his hand where it exploded without leaving as much as a scratch on his skin. More than twenty guards began firing laser guns at him, but no beam could penetrate the black lightning that was encasing his body. He was like a juggernaut.

The young man let out a sudden shout and stomped the floor with one foot. Black lightning exploded from his body like a sphere, all around him, reducing everything it encompassed to cinders.

When the transmission was interrupted, the man turned towards the young woman who was subtly shaking.

"Are you afraid, Galatea?" he asked.

Galatea brought a hand in front of her face.

"I don't know it myself...but I don't think it's fear what I'm experiencing right now."

A large grin appeared on Orochimaru's face.

"What you are feeling is excitement! The lust for battle! A warrior's desire to fight against a powerful opponent!"

Galatea clenched her hand in a fist. Her eyes began to burn with battle intent.

But suddenly, a feeling of oppression flooded both Orochimaru and Galatea. A heavy boom was heard and the huge metallic doors were blasted to pieces.

Dressed fully in black, only his head was uncovered. His hair was flailing in mid air, cackling with electricity and his body's outline looked blurry because of the massive amount of black lightning revolving around him.

When his eyes fell on the two of them, a monstrous killing intent exploded from him. He screamed, blinded by rage:

"Where. Is. My. Sister?"

Just how Kyuubi's roar alone had shattered buildings and razed to the ground entire forests in his past life, Naruto scream made the reinforced walls of the facility crack and most of the electronic devices in the room exploded.

Orochimaru's face revealed the shock he felt inside. From the data that he had gathered he knew that Naruto was very powerful but what he was witnessing at that moment...

 _'This- this is insane!'_

He was planning on having both him and Galatea retreat but then, he saw her stepping forward.

"Please don't interfere, father. Get away from here as fast as possible."

Without turning around, she said:

"Don't worry... and trust me. I am powerful!"

Then, the concrete floor beneath her feet exploded as she plunged towards her opponent with all her strength. A sonic boom was heard and the two met in the middle, clashing their forearms against each other. The shockwaves of their clash blew Orochimaru off his feet and slammed him into the wall of the room.

The scientist lifted himself up with great difficulty, one of his arms being actually broken.

 _'I hate it..."_

' _I hate this weak body so much!'_

Even so, he didn't try get away like Galatea had asked him to. Instead, he pulled out a device from one of his lab coat's pockets and a devious smile surfaced on his face.

 _Scene break_

While shrouded by his black Raiton no Yoroi, Naruto was at the level where he could lift a few tons easily. However..

 _'Just what kind of raw strength does she have!?'_

A short moment of respite followed after an intense close combat exchange and they both looked at each other warily, neither daring to underestimate the other.

 _'I feel like I'm fighting against Tsunade-baa-chan.'_ Naruto said inwardly.

The resemblance was further reinforced when Galatea's appearance was taken in account along with her enormous strength - blonde hair, beautiful face, an athletic body and a more than considerable bust size. Naruto had the feeling that most likely that was how Tsunade looked when she was in her early 20s.

On the other side of the room, Galatea rubbed the charred tips of her fists.

 _'His physical strength is formidable. Not higher than mine but enough to allow him to face someone like me head-on.'_

Her eyes narrowed as she studied the lightning that was coating her opponent's body.

 _'Besides magic attacks, I have yet to find anything else that could harm my body. I am immune even to my race's fatal weakness - kryptonite; it cannot leave a scratch on me...but his lightning..."_

But in a few moments, the blackened skin of her fists regenerated as though it had not been harmed at all in the first place.

Galatea may have been only as old as a toddler; however, her intelligence was not to be belittled.

 _'Since only magical attacks can hurt me, then that black lightning must be of a magical nature... but father said he is using chakra...chakra - an energy resulted after the fusion of the physical and spiritual energies of the body...magic uses spiritual energy. Therefore, chakra's nature is somewhat similar to that of magic. That's the reason why his lightning can harm me..'_

But before she could finish formulating a strategy to deal with her opponent's troublesome ability, a black lightning-encased fist appeared in front of her face.

Just before his fist collided with her jaw, Naruto discharged the lightning that he had been accumulating.

 _*boom*_

The resulting explosion rocked the entire facility!

However...

"You've got to be kidding me..."

He was in such a state of disbelief that he had unintentionally said those words out loud. That lightning encased fist was what he had developed on the Prison Island during his 2 years of training. Only one hit was powerful enough to easily shatter gigantic cliffs...Yet in front of his very eyes, Galatea lifted herself from the ground as though nothing happened! The only mark left by his lightning punch was a small charred bruise on her cheek.

But by the time Galatea got back to her feet, the two of them were both stopped from attaching the other when chunks of concrete started to fall from the ceiling. Thanks to the explosions and shockwaves that their fight had generated, the basement was starting to collapse!

An expression of horror appeared on Naruto's face. It wasn't that he was afraid he would die buried in the ground; he was too powerful and resilient for that. But his sister was just an ordinary girl. If she was also in the basement...

Bluish-crystal like bones started to protrude from his torso, skewering his clothes.

"Where is she?" Naruto yelled, his voice sounding more like an animalistic growl.

"TELL ME!"

Two bones that looked like demonic horns grew from his forehead and his right hand and forearm became covered in a bone membrane, making it look like a spear. His spine underwent a big change too - it pierced through the skin of his back in what resembled spikes like those of a dinosaur and its end grew into a long and deadly looking bony tail.

When his transformation ended, Naruto looked nothing like a man but a ferocious humanoid dragon.

Orochimaru was stunned at Naruto's transformation - it looked very similar to that of Kimmimaro Kaguya's when he released the 2nd level of the Cursed Seal in his past life. But, if Orochimaru himself was stunned despite having seen something similar before, it goes without saying that Galatea was even more than so. She was watching the scene with her mouth agape...And those few seconds of inaction were the greatest mistake she could have made.

She only saw a black blur before something impacted her abdomen. A pain like nothing she had ever felt before overwhelmed her senses: Naruto's spear-like arm, coated in black lightning, was now halfway buried into the girl's stomach.

Still, despite scoring a fatal blow on his opponent, Naruto felt no joy whatsoever. Crazed with anger, he screamed at Orochimaru:

"Tell me where is she! Tell me or I'll kill this bitch! Then I'll torture you until you'll start begging me for death!"

"TELL ME!"

Rage. It was a rage unlike anything he'd experienced before in both of his lives.

Orochimaru had always made his life miserable. In his past life he took away from him the person he considered like a brother - Sasuke. In his present life he took away from him his sister, the one person whom he loved more than everything else in the world. In that moment, his hate and rage at Orochimaru were so intense that he was only 1 step from falling into insanity.

On the other side, even if he had wanted to say something, Orochimaru would have not been able to. The killing intent the berserk Naruto was releasing was so thick and heavy that the scientist was slowly getting closer to dying of asphyxiation. In that moment, the former Snake Sannin did not have any control over his body. In this life, he was just an ordinary human.

Suddenly, the ceiling of the room caved in and large chunks of concrete began to fall. Then, a large, crimson appendage reached through the now broken ceiling and collided against the humanoid dragon.

 **"Naruto!"** a deep demonic voice came **"Get a hold of yourself!"**

A snarl of anger came from Naruto and, when he screamed, his voice was like a roar:

"Was killing my parents not enough?! You want my sister to die too? DON'T GET IN MY WAY, KYUUBI!"

A large crater was formed under his feet as he plunged towards what he was seeing now his enemy.

Kyuubi, now as large as a horse, was having 4 of his large tails wrapped around something. He only had 5 others to use in combat. Even so, the former bijuu knew that he stood no chance.

 _ **'This is dangerous...he's become like a mindless beast.'**_

Kyuubi quickly jumped to the side, dodging Naruto who was coming at him not unlike an enraged rhino...

 **"Get a hold of yourself, retard! Your sister is safe, I saved her!"** Kyuubi screamed, trying to make him get back to his senses.

But Naruto looked like he didn't hear him. Naruto's spear-like arm was just about to pierce into Kyuubi's body when the demonic fox unwrapped his tails from what he was holding and shouted almost desperately:

 **"Snap out of it, are you trying to kill your own sister?!"**

Even through the red haze that was clouding his eyes and mind, when his eyes got a glimpse of what Kyuubi was holding, his body stopped as if it was frozen... long hair, of crimson colour, even more intense than the fox's own fur... and through the strands of hair covering her face, he saw her... it was his beloved sister, Misaki.

He lifted his right hand, intending to touch her, as though to convince himself that she was real...only for Kyuubi to back away in panic.

 **"O-Oi, oi, have you really lost it? You really want to kill us?!"**

It was then that through his foggy vision, he took notice of the state of his right arm...that it had become like a bone spear. His arm fell to the side and he let himself drop on his knees. In that moment it was as if all the power that he had previously displayed was being sapped away. The black lightning around him faded away and the bones that made him look like a humanoid dragon started to slowly sink back into his body.

Naruto only had time to get one more glance at his sister's face before his vision darkened and he slipped into a deep slumber.

Kyuubi sighed loudly in relief. But then, he said annoyed:

 **"Great, now I have to carry both of them! What am I, their nanny?"**

 _Scene break_

A grunt of exertion was heard as a silhouette sat up sluggishly from amidst the rubble and debris covering the entire facility. Although one his arms was broken and he was bleeding profusely from a wound on his head, the man was relatively fine. It was a real miracle that he had managed to survive in the aftermath of two god-like beings' confrontation.

It was Orochimaru. His face that was usually carrying a confident or mocking smirk was now livid with anger.

With a bit of difficulty, he made his way towards the downed form of the blonde girl. Half of her body was buried under heavy chunks of concrete and in her stomach, a very large hole could be seen... however, she was still breathing.

Orochimaru plopped himself down next to her. His voice was hoarse when he spoke:

"So much...I have invested so much in you..."

"All these years of research to find a way to remove your racial weakness to kryptonite...all those enormous sums of money invested...all those subjects experimented on in order to perfect my skill in modifying the DNA, to become able to improve your body...all of this to make you the ultimate fighter, the strongest being in the Universe!"

"But in the end, I did all of these for what...?"

"For nothing! It was all wasted!"

A weak sound was heard then from Galatea's bloodied lips:

"Father... I... sorry..."

A hollow laugh came from Orochimaru.

"Sorry? ...you have nothing to be sorry about."

"After all it was my mistake for creating..."

"...A failure."

Although she was feeling immense pain and she knew she was going to die, Galatea had not let it show on her face. But when her father's words reached her ears, her eyes widened. Galatea had never cried in her entire life. However, in that moment, tears started to stream down her cheeks like a river. It looked like she was trying to say something, but instead, only sounds of her choking with her own blood came from her mouth.

"Pathetic." Orochimaru uttered before sitting up and living the destroyed command room.

He came back after a while, carrying a sealed vial.

"Do not worry. Your life was not entirely meaningless. Your sacrifice in fighting Naruto had not been in vain."

Then, he uncorked the vial and poured it on the bloodied hole in her stomach.

"I've made you nigh impossible to kill. At least impossible for normal humans. However, it was always my plan to leave you vulnerable to a certain poison that only I can concoct. It was for the unlikely case where you would slip out my control."

"It's truly regrettable that it ends like this for you, but I cannot have you survive this. There are too many secrets that my enemies could get from you."

"Enjoy the last 3 minutes of your life..."

Then, he bent to her and pressed his thin lips to her forehead.

"Farewell, my dear daughter."

* * *

AN: no other title could be more appropriate for what happened in this chapter to be honest. Poor Galatea

I hope you liked it. I would appreciate if I were to receive your feedback. :)


	26. Chapter 26 - Shadows

AN:

"Hello" -normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 26 - Shadows**

"Hello, Luther." a voice said and a black clad man suddenly appeared next to the desk at which Lex Luthor was sitting.

Luthor let out a startled cry and jumped to his feet in panic, his luxurious directorial chair falling over to the floor. Still, it took a few moments for him to recollect himself. He asked:

"Why have you come here, Naruto?"

But then, his eyes fell on the crimson stains on Naruto's black clothes...it was blood. A bad premonition appeared in his mind and his hand quickly went to press the panic button under his desk...only to see his forearm landing on the floor with a thud.

For a brief moment, he didn't understand what happened. But then, his brain finally received the stimuli of pain coming from what was left of his now severed arm! A scream of agony came from his mouth as he desperately clutched with his other hand at the wound.

"We...we had a deal!" Luthor squeezed out through his gasps of pain. "Why are you doing this?!"

Naruto grabbed him in a painful chokehold and laughed mockingly.

"Deal? What deal?"

"You've brought this upon yourself, Luthor. You've tried to blackmail me with my sister. Although only for a few moments, you thought that I would become your lap dog."

Then, as though a sudden thought struck him, he appeared to fall in deep thought.

"You know, actually, I should be grateful to you for letting me know of my sister's survival..."

"Indeed! I told you about-" Luthor began to say despite being choked, his face as servile as that of a beaten dog...only for Naruto's following words to bring him back to despair:

"...I bet you hoped with all your heart that was true. Haha!"

"Don't get me wrong, Luthor. I have no particularly strong desire to kill you. But you are the one that is asking me to kill you. More exactly, your twisted character."

"That's because you're a very wealthy man, Luthor. You have many connections and nowadays, money and connections are a combo that can make nearly everything become possible."

Luthor's face was starting to become violet from the lack of air.

"Do you get my meaning? You see, I am not afraid for my well-being. I doubt I could even be killed at this point...The blood you see on my clothes is not mine but that of Supergirl's clone. I killed her only an 4 hours ago."

Had Luthor not been in a chokehold he would have probably gasped in shock at his words.

"On the other hand, my sister is an ordinary human...she is way too vulnerable."

"Knowing what a despicable schemer you are, I can't trust you not to try to get back at me through her. I am not the kind of man to leave any loose ends. I won't ever do the same mistakes as in my long lost past."

"Are you... going to kill everyone...everyone that you think they might endanger your sister? Just for that?!" Luthor screamed with all of his strength, in desperation.

"Of course. Be it women, children, a nun, a priest or the president himself. It makes no difference to me. I'll kill whoever endangers my family. As simple as that."

Holding Luthor in the air by his neck, Naruto's other hand suddenly stabbed into his stomach and dug in until it reached his spine.

"Farewell Luthor." Naruto said and the businessman's entire body was suddenly skewered by hundreds of spike-like bones, showering the entire room with his blood.

A small breeze blew and Naruto disappeared from the office, leaving behind only a few leaves...and Lex Luthor's mutilated beyond recognition body.

As he shunshined away, Naruto thought:

 _'Amanda Waller, Danzo and Orochimaru...wash your necks bastards. Death is coming for you very soon too.'_

 _Scene break_

A beautiful girl with long red hair, blue eyes and 2 pairs of whisker-like birthmarks on her cheeks was sitting in a wheelchair, next to the fireplace, in the living room of the Monkey King's Dojo in Gotham. She was absent-mindedly staring at the flames, her hands idly petting a small nine-tailed fox that was making some sounds oddly similar to that of cat's purring.

 _'For two years, I've been in a coma... for 2 years, my brother has not even know that I was alive...Just how much has he suffered during those 2 years?'_

The time from 2 years ago was just like a few days ago for Misaki. Because of that, she could see very well the stark differences between the current Naruto and him from 2 years ago. She realized just how big of an impact her apparent death had had on him.

While she was deeply buried in her own thoughts, two callused hands touched her shoulders, starting to gently massaged them.

"How are you, Misaki, are you feeling better?"

"You've asked me this only half an hour ago. Stop mothering me like that!" Misaki said half amused, half exasperated.

Naruto stopped massaging her shoulders and laughed awkwardly.

"Haha, sorry, I can't help it."

Grabbing one of the sofas in the loving room, he easily brought it next to Misaki's chair, in front of the fireplace.

When he took a seat, Misaki bit her lip as though she wanted to say something. Eventually, she managed to get over her embarrassment.

"Ne, onii-chan...can I sit next to you?"

Naruto's face lighted up like a Christmas tree at her words. He stood up and grinning in happiness, he took his sister from the wheelchair in a princess carry.

When he sat down, instead of putting Misaki next to him like she had asked, he placed her in his lap, guiding her feeble body to rest on his chest.

"H-Hey, what-" Misaki weakly tried to protest but her half hearted effort was squashed when he embraced her lovingly to his chest.

Both siblings sighed in bliss. Especially Naruto, he was feeling as though he was living a dream. The reality he was experiencing seemed too good too be true.

"I missed you so much, Misaki..." Naruto said in a whisper. "After you died...I was desperate. Almost mad."

"And I did bad things..."

Naruto paused, debating whether he should continue telling her the truth or not. It was in that moment that the fox that was now resting in Misaki's arms opened its slit red eyes and nodded subtly to Naruto. Kyuubi was letting him know that he thought what he was doing was right.

"You were the only family I had left. You were my everything. You _are_ my everything. I don't know if you know exactly just how much I love you." Naruto said sincerely. "When I thought you died...I was devastated..."

Naruto's words reached the deepest parts of Misaki's heart. In his words she could feel how much emotion was hidden - his pure love for her and his anguish at having lost her.

"...and I wanted revenge...I wanted to destroy everyone that, directly or not, had had a hand in your death."

"I killed the Joker...I tortured him."

Naruto felt his sister's body stiffening at his words. But he steeled his resolve. His sister deserved to know the truth about him. He wanted to be sincere with her. He wanted for her to hear the truth from his mouth instead of finding out about the things he did, by herself, from other, questionable sources.

"In my rage, I killed the entire Arkham Asylum. The imprisoned criminals, the guards, the doctors...even the janitors. They were corrupt people but still...I didn't let anyone escape alive...over 100 people."

Naruto didn't say anything. Outwardly, he was just calmly waiting for Misaki's reply. Inwardly, however, he was dying with anxiety.

After what seemed like an eternity for Naruto, Misaki mumbled:

"It doesn't matter."

Either because he didn't hear her well or because he thought it was just his wishful thinking, he exclaimed:

"E-Ehh?"

"To me it doesn't matter." Misaki said again, louder this time around.

"My entire life, ever since we were young kids, you acted like the big brother. You have always protected me - in a city like Gotham, I had one of the safest lives around. You have always loved me and taken care of me...it is because of you that I could have a normal childhood like other girls of my age instead of being in the dojo...it is because of you that I lived an easy life. You sacrificed so much for my well being...it's thanks to you that I am even alive right now."

"What more could anyone possibly ask from her brother? Even if the entire world will hate you, how could I ever hate you?"

"I will forever be grateful to you. And I will never reject you because we only have each other, Naruto. You're my brother. I will always love you."

A weight was lifted from Naruto's heart. He tightened his arms around his sister and buried his face into her long and silky red hair, for her to not see the tears that had started to fall from his eyes.

 _Scene break - throwback to 2 days before_

A thin and tall man with very long black hair was running through a complicated system of underground tunnels. Despite having a broken arm, he was not feeling any pain; he was running as fast as he could. It looked as if he was being chased. He was Orochimaru.

In fact, his broken arm had been numbed. He could not feel anything from it.

 _'On my life I swear that whoever was behind this will pay dearly!'_

Fury was smouldering in his gut and a terrible rage was boiling under his the blank expression of his face.

 _'When I finally found a worthwhile reason to live... when I finally got close to the feeling that people call love...they took it all away from me!'_

He wanted to scream to the heavens in rage. But he couldn't. He didn't want to help his pursuers in locating his exact whereabouts.

 _'Is this what they call Karma? ...for all the horrible things I've done in my past life, am I paying for them in this life?'_

Orochimaru could only grit his teeth in helpless rage.

 _'But to think that someone with such a dangerous ability was reincarnated as well...'_

 _Flashback_

 _It was right after the ceiling of the command room collapsed because of Naruto's and Galatea's battle._

 _Orochimaru was lifting himself up to his feet groggily when a sharp pain came from his broken arm - a pain different than that he was feeling from the injured bone. His eyes fell on the dart that had pierced him with a deadly precision in the vein. He quickly plucked it out and threw it away._

 _But just as he instinctively turned his head towards the direction from which the dart had been shot, he felt his broken arm becoming completely numb. Paralyzed._

 _In the next moment, his eyes met another pair of eyes. At the sight of those eyes, he was petrified in disbelief. Realizing the danger, he quickly tried to break the eye-contact, but it was too late...the two tomoes in each of those eyes started to spin and Orochimaru lost any control over his body._

 _Flashback end_

 _'The Sharingan...!'_

 _'An Uchiha...'_

 _'Itachi? Sasuke? Madara? Shisui? Kagami? Whoever are you, your life won't be enough to pay for what you've done...You made me kill my daughter in all but blood...You made me kill her with my own hands!'_

 _'I'll never forgive you!'_

The sound of teeth grinding together was heard over that of his feet stomping the concrete floor. Orochimaru's usually pale face was becoming red, bordering violet. It was not from exhaustion but from rage. The extreme anger he was feeling in that moment, coupled with the ever present feeling of being weak and useless topped in intensity any other emotion he may have felt in both of his lives.

Eventually, he reached a heavy and large metallic door. After placing his hand on the device next to it to attest his identity, the door opened. Orochimaru stepped inside quickly, the door closing behind him with a loud metallic clank.

It was only a few minutes later that a masked man, clad like a ninja, appeared in front of the same door.

"He managed to escape...the mission was only half successful." the man said as he adjusted the large bag that he was carrying om his shoulder. From the size and form of it, it wasn't hard to realize that he was carrying a body.

 _Scene break - Deep into the mountains of Switzerland_

The man that had been chasing Orochimaru was now sitting on one knee, reporting the details of his mission to his superior.

"I have successfully retrieved the clone's body. Unfortunately, the scientist had somehow managed to escape."

"A mere human managed to escape from you?" his superior asked in surprise.

"Yes. As you know, my ability works for as long as my target does not feel any strong stimuli. His arm had gotten broken but I paralyzed it properly. My only guess is that when he went into his lab to treat his wounds, the strong smell of the medicinal alcohol had shaken him awake from the illusion that I had placed on him. It was a mistake on my part. I will accept any punishment you think my actions-."

His superior lifted his arm, making the man stop speaking.

"We will have none of that, Itachi." He said. "The times of the past will not come back. I am not Ra's al Ghul. You are my subordinates, not some expendable tools. And you did well. Although the scientist managed to escape, he is but an ordinary human. Furthermore, he knows nothing of our organisation, let alone our plans. Very few people know anything about the League of Shadows."

"Now come, let's go to the Lazarus Pit."

Itachi followed his master. When they reached their destination, two women were waiting for them close to what looked like a natural pool filled with a green and slightly viscous liquid. Next to them, another woman was laying on a nearby portable bed. Her lack of clothes made it impossible to not notice the alluring perfection of her body. She looked like a Greek goddess, like Aphrodite herself...at least she would have looked like that had it not been for the terrible, fist-sized hole in her stomach.

"May I ask a question?" the one called Itachi said, rather hesitatingly.

"Is it about my grandson?" the other man asked, anticipating his question.

If Itachi was surprised, his blank face gave away nothing. He nodded.

"Yes. For our plans, would it not have been better to include someone of his power in our ranks? At the moment, objectively, he is probably the most powerful metahuman on Earth. He killed this clone with one move...a clone that was stronger than the Man of Steel himself. And he is your grands-"

Itachi's words died in his throat as an ominous feeling washed over him.

"It is precisely because he is my grandson that he will have nothing to do with our plans." the man said, his old-sounding voice thick with killing intent. He was none other than Sarutobi Hiruzen, Naruto's and Misaki's presumed-dead grandfather!

"I have faked my own death...I have killed my public identity - that of Sarutobi Hiruzen - so I could fully dedicate myself to leading the League of Assassins. However, all that, I did it for the very reason of not letting my grandchildren ever get in contact with the shadowy Demon. For them to never even become aware of the League of Shadows' existence."

Itachi nodded in his usual stoic manner.

"Then, why was it necessary to make the scientist kill the clone with his own hands? In her injured state, I could have simply killed them both myself and save us the trouble of having him escape..."

Sarutobi clasped his hands behind his back and turned to look at the Lazarus Pit.

"Although this pit can be seen as a fountain of immortality, it has its downsides as well."

"Lazarus Pit restores the body, regardless of the injuries it suffered and it can even revive the dead and strengthen one's body beyond its original capabilities. All that, however, comes at a price. Simply said, the user will become mentally unstable. In worst case, downright insane."

"There are only 3 ways to ameliorate these effects on the brain."

"First, is for the user to be insane himself. The effect won't be as powerful as on sane people."

"Second, is to have a very powerful will. However, this clone has lived for only 3 years. What will could she have developed in this short period of time? A powerful will is groomed by going through many ordeals and hardships through life. Three years is not enough for that."

"That brings us to the third way - to have a powerful obsession."

"You see, I don't want my subordinates to be mindless puppets nor insane. Because of that, it was needed for this clone to develop an obsession."

"For her, that scientist was like a father. He meant the world for her. Being betrayed and killed by that person and realizing that her entire existence had been a lie...just how intense will become her hatred for him? Just how powerful will become her obsession to kill him?"

Although he did not let it show on his face, Itachi was inwardly trembling. The new Head of the Demon was a terrifying man. The new leader of the League of Shadows was dangerous man. Terribly so.

* * *

AN: Many of you wondered why did Orochimaru do what he did in the previous chapter because it was too contradictory with how I portrayed him to be in the beginning - after having read this chapter, you have you have your answer. I really want to see your reactions to this chapter's revelations - how many of you have expected this to happen? :D

I hope you liked it. Till next time, cheers!

 _(No beta and not an English native either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	27. Chapter 27 - Happiness

AN: I can't believe that this story has reached over 2000 followers! It's my second story to have achieved this and I am thankful to all of you who have been with me since the first day I started writing my first story.

I'm an ordinary, albeit anti-social guy. Just a loner with no social life and no other particular talents or skills to make me stand out... That said, when I started writing fanfiction, I trully did not dare to even dream that one day my stories would have thousands of people reading them!

I have no spectacular writing skills and English is not even my native language. The only thing I have is imagination. In spite of that, you never ceased to support and encourage me to continue writing. Seriously, thank you!

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 27 - Happiness**

 _'Humans' traditions in this world are weird.'_ Kyuubi concluded as he looked up at the Christmas tree in the corner of the living room.

"Kurama, pass me the box with golden ornaments, please!" Naruto called out from the stool he was on.

"Do I look like your servant? Take them yourself, bitch!"

The two glared at each other for a few moments.

"Tsk. Fine then!"

Making a cross sign with his fingers, a shadow clone popped in existence and brought him the box. Before disappearing though, the clone threw one of the pillows on the sofa on Kyuubi's head, nearly making the small fox fall off.

Kyuubi snarled at him and from his puny fox cub-size, his body become as large as that of a German Shepard dog.

"Do you want to go at it, huh?"

"Sure, bite me!"

With a growl, Naruto and the large dog-sized Kyuubi pounced on each other.

Kyuubi's jaws clamped hard on Naruto's forearm...only for him to let out a yelp of pain afterwards:

"Fuck you and your stupid bones!"

In his forearm, right beneath his skin, Naruto had made a thin but very resilient bone membrane. When Kyuubi bit him, he felt like he had bit on reinforced concrete.

Naruto grabbed the now large fox with his arms from around the neck in a triangle lock and started dragging him towards the door. In his struggle to get free, Kyuubi lunged with his tails at any piece of furniture, wreaking out everything on the way. Still, uncaring of the damage they were making in the house, Naruto was laughing maniacally.

"Bwahaha! I've always wanted to do this!" Naruto exclaimed and laughed out loud again in anticipation of what he was about to do - he remembered how funny it was when, as a kid, he watched Tom&Jerry and saw how Tom was usually being kicked out of the house with a kick in the butt.

When Naruto reached the door, a shadow clone popped up next to him and opened it for him. After that, together with the original, they both grabbed the large fox from the scruff of its neck and from the lower part of its back. Then, two powerful kicks landed in the fox's butt! Screaming and cursing, Kyuubi was propelled out, hurling through the air like a rocket.

But just as he was about to crash into the mounds of snow in the dojo's courtyard, a jet of fire was shot from its mouth, melting the surrounding snow in an instant.

One thing was clear: Kyuubi hated snow. He hated winter.

 _Scene break_

After 2 years of being stuck in an artificial coma, her body had become feeble and her muscles very weak due to inactivity. She couldn't even walk by herself. Of course, Naruto had taken her to a doctor. To their relief, the damage to her body was not permanent. With a few months of rehabilitation she would heal completely.

Right now, the two siblings were returning from the hospital after a session of physical exercises that Misaki had had to perform under the care and supervising of a medic specialized in that field.

Misaki was currently on his back, squealing in excitement just like a little girl as Naruto kept jumping with her from the roof of one skyscraper to another. For Naruto it was not a big deal; to his enormous strength, Misaki's weight felt just like a feather. However, for an ordinary girl like her, it was exhilarating.

Still, there was no danger of falling off whatsoever - Naruto had made sure of that by manipulating his bones into growing and wrapping around his sister's body, fixing her to his back.

Naruto stopped on top of one of the tallest buildings in Gotham, giving his sister the chance to admire the scenery of snowy city from above.

He was about to resume their trip when Misaki said, albeit hesitatingly:

"Naruto, would it be ok if..."

"If what?" he stopped and asked.

"I...I miss Barbara."

"She was my only real friend. You know that since young we've been like sisters and I... would it be ok if I invited her to spend the Christmas with us?"

Naruto looked at her weirdly for a few moments.

"Why not?" he asked in real surprise.

Misaki was not sure how to explain herself but she decided to just tell him her thoughts. After all, she has never held any important secrets from him.

"You might not remember something that I have told you since it's been years in reality, but, for me, only a few weeks passed... you fought in an underground cage fighting tournament. For my sake. And you got injured very badly...you were nearly killed."

"It was at that time that I promised you that I won't be a burden for you anymore."

"Misaki, what are you saying? You will never be a burden for me. I've always-"

"But I was!" she retorted loudly, forgetting that he was carrying her in a piggy-back position and that her mouth was next to his ear.

"Every week I was squandering hundreds of dollars on trivial things, money for which you were trading real blood and sweat..."

A node appeared in her throat, making her unable to speak for a few moments lest she started crying. She did manage to compose herself though.

"I know that we don't have any problems with money anymore but I am aware of what you have done while I was dead... it wouldn't be wrong to say that you basically became enemies with the entire world..."

"You've always given your all to make me happy and you did not back down from any sacrifice if it was for my sake. In exchange, what have I ever done for you? - Nothing."

"I'm just a normal, average girl...there is nothing I can do for you. I... I should, at least, not cause you any trouble... Barbara is the daughter of Commissioner of Gotham. I didn't contact her yet because I didn't want to attract any unwanted attention for you."

Naruto sighed but did not contradict her words right away.

"Misaki, do you know who was the one keeping you in a coma? It was a scientist and a clone of Supergirl. A being that was said to be more powerful than Superman himself because her DNA had been altered and improved - she had no weaknesses."

"Before saving you, I had to go through them...take a moment to realize just how powerful your big brother had to be in order to rescue you." Naruto said somewhat smugly. "That said, what trouble could you cause me? ...At the moment, there isn't anyone that has any chance against me. Especially not when Kurama comes in play too. And I'll show no mercy to whoever tries to harm you."

"Besides," Naruto continued after a small pause. "Just look at me."

"I made a frigging makeshift support out of my the bones in my spinal cord to hold you safely on my back. I'm jumping tens of feet in the air, from one rooftop to another and I can destroy this entire skyscraper with one stomp of my feet. Not to mention, that my bones are blue... in all the fairness, that's what you'd call a monster in my book."

"However, despite of what I have become, you said you loved me. An ordinary and average girl - in your words - said that she would never abandon me, that she would never hate me..."

"You don't need to give me anything else, Misaki. You don't need to do anything... Just continue to be my sister. Just continue to stay at my side. Knowing that I have someone to whom to return at home... knowing that I am not all alone in this world – this is a reason enough for me to feel like life is worth living. Because we are family."

Naruto could not see his sister's facial expression but he knew she was crying. He could hear her sniffs and he could feel her tears on the back of his neck...or were they really tears?

"For god's sake, Misaki, that was gross as fuck!" Naruto said and groaned in disgust. What he felt on the back of his neck did not fall from her eyes but from her runny nose...

From feeling emotional and touched by Naruto's sincere words, Misaki abruptly became mortified with embarrassment. It was very cold outside and because she was crying, she had not even felt her nose...leaking.

 _Scene break_

Barbara Gordon was starting to become annoyed. She had spent almost 2 hours in the mirror, trying various outfits yet none seemed to meet her needs in that moment.

Suddenly, her phone started to ring. More exactly, her "superhero phone number". It was a phone number that only a select few persons knew, one on which even they would only call in case of emergencies, when they couldn't reach her through her old phone number.

A bit apprehensive, Barbara picked up and answered:

"Hello!"

A bubbly voice replied to her:

 _"Heyyy Barbara! How are you?"_

The redhead didn't know whether to cry or to laugh.

"Kara...how many times have I told you that this number is only for emergencies?!"

 _"B-But this is an emergency!"_

"Sigh. I'm listening..."

 _"Turn on the TV and tune it to MCLC (Metropolis City Live Channel)."_

When she did as told, a news report was being streamed on TV:

 _"...The authorities have confirmed the body's identity - yesterday, close to the middle of the night, Lex Luthor was found dead in his office. The officers present at the crime scene declared that his body was mutilated beyond recognition, what appeared like bones having pierced through his body in numerous places..."_

Confirming the words Barbara heard on TV, Supergirl said it herself too:

 _"Lex Luthor is dead."_

Barbara Gordon was momentarily silent, lost in her thoughts. It was Supergirl's bubbly voice that interrupted her again:

 _"However, that wasn't the emergency. I couldn't care less about Lex Luthor's death!"_

Barbara almost dropped the phone.

"KARA!" she yelled scandalized.

 _"What?! That guy was a total scumbag! He broke the law more times than I can count and he tried to kill me and my cousin more than once. Not to mention that we shoved him into the prison 2 times already, but he had always bought his way out of it with bribes and good lawyers. Am I supposed to feel sorry for him?"_

Supergirl sighed and continued:

 _"Uuu...it's Christmas, let's leave this boring stuff aside! What I really wanted to ask you is this: would you like to spend the Christmas together with me and my uncle and aunt?"_

Barbara perked up at her words. Ever since her best friend died, a new resolve had started to burn in her chest, a flame that was still burning in her heart just as bright as in the first day: to help people. Her dream was to one day create a world where no innocent people would be killed by psychopaths. A world where the weak would not be at the mercy of others more powerful. Barbara, knew that what she wished for was just a pipe dream but even so, if she managed to save even only 1 person, all her efforts would be worth it.

Suffice to say, her father was not enthusiastic about her plans. Not in the least. He was adamant she left her 'butterflies' and went to college in order to live an ordinary, respectable life. Their conflict reached the point where Barbara chose to leave home and break all contact with her stubborn father.

Following that, for 2 years, Barbara had lived a lonely life, all her time being split between being a local hero - the Batgirl - and her "day-job", that as a librarian in Gotham City' public library. She had not truly celebrated any major holiday during those 2 years. Now that Supergirl was offering to spend the Christmas together, Barbara was more than a bit moved.

"Are you sure? ...we may be something like friends, but I don't think your cousin has even heard of a minor character like me."

 _"Oh, Clark definitely knows about you. I swear he knows every freaking little thing I do every day! ...WAIT what do you mean by ''something like friends'?!"_ Supergirl yelled, sounding offended.

 _"Miss Gordon, don't make me come to Gotham and kick your butt, you hear me? You know that I could come to Gotham in less than 5 minutes!"_

Barbara started to giggle.

As though she wasn't angry just a few moments before, Supergirl reverted to her usual, bubbly self in an instant.

 _"So what do you say? Are you coming?"_

 _"Clark will probably not even be home tonight because the Justice League has some urgent meeting right now. What do you say? Come on!"_ Supergirl urged again.

Barbara could barely stifle her giggles. To her, Kara was acting just like an excited puppy.

"Wait, if the Justice League has a major meeting right now, weren't you supposed to attend too?!"

An awkward laughter was heard from the blonde on the other side of the phone:

 _"Hehe...I ditched it?"_

Barbara finally lost it; she started laughing out loud. Ever since Misaki died, she has been mostly gloomy and depressed. Meeting Supergirl though was like a breath of fresh air. For the past few months, Kara had been like a ray of sunshine in her gloomy life.

Suddenly, Barbara's other phone started to ring.

"Ugh, Kara, I'll call you later, ok?"

 _"Nooo! Don't hang up the phone, I can wait! I won't let you get away without giving me a clear answer!"_

"What if is it important?"

 _"What can be more important than your best and, I'd say, your only friend?"_

"Hey it's not like that!"

As the two girls kept chatting, Barbara's other phone stopped ringing. She had had no idea that it was Misaki that had been calling her.

 _Scene break_

In the Watchtower, the mood was sombre.

Batman, with Catwoman at his side, Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lanteen, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Flash and quite a few other superheroes were having a rather tense conversation. It wasn't that they were arguing with each other but the object of their discussion was bringing endless pressure on them.

"We cannot let this go on... people are starting to question the reason for Justice League's existence!" Green Lantern said sternly.

"I wouldn't say that...so far, this Uzumaki guy has not killed even one innocent." Wonder Woman retorted from the side.

"That doesn't change the fact that he is a killer! Do you want me to enumerate what he has done in the past 2 years? He tortured the Joker to death. He murdered over 100 people in Arkham Assylum. Probably around 200 on the government's secret Prison Island. And most recently, he killed Deadshot and Lex Luthor!"

"You forgot about that totally hot babe that looked like an older version of Supergirl. A real shame if you ask me." Flash added with a lecherous grin, only to shrink back at the over a dozen of glares that were suddenly thrown at him.

Surprisingly enough, it was Martian Manhunter that also took Wonder Woman's side in this conversation:

"Actually, Green Lantern, most of the people in United States of America appear to hold feeling of respect for Uzumaki Naruto. A quick search on internet would let you know easily of their opinion of him. They are usually portraying Uzumaki as a tragic hero. One that was forced to take the justice in his own hands to avenge his only family - his sister. In the process, he eliminated a mass-murderer, someone about whom they still think that it was a good riddance. After all, the Joker has escaped more than three times from prison."

Hawkman retorted from the side:

"Still, does that mean that he can just run amok as he pleases? Hero or not, nobody is above the law!"

An amused giggle came from Catwoman:

"Like it or not, big guy, the truth is that by simply doing our hero 'job' we are actually breaking the law. There aren't any laws allowing vigilante actions. At least not yet. That said, technically, we are all criminals."

Hawkman, as short tempered as always, growled and looked like he was about stand up from his seat, his hand clenched firmly on his large mace. It was then that a feeling of oppression made goosebumps appear all over his back.

His eyes involuntarily turned towards the source of that feeling - it was Batman who was looking at him through his mask, his eyes calm, but hiding a cold ferocity in them.

Startled, Hawkman let go of his mace, his right hand now subtly shaking. The winged superhero realized that Batman...this "new" Batman was ten times deadlier than the one that he thought he knew. He realized that if he were to harm even one hair of Catwoman, this Batman would not hesitate to rip his heart out his chest. That was the feeling he got from his mere glance alone.

The other superheroes in the room noticed the weird mood and silence instilled. It was Shazam that, while making use of Solomon's wisdom, intervened.

"The points Green Lantern has brought forth are valid. Nobody has the right to take a human life. But Martian Manhunter is right as well - the people love Uzumaki Naruto. That is the truth, whether we like it or not."

"However, we have to consider one more aspect." Shazam added. "Uzumaki is very powerful. From what we know of him, he discovered his powers only 2 years ago...when he defeated me, Superman and Flash. Nowadays he's many times powerful. He just killed the one named Galatea - someone that was supposedly even stronger than Superman."

"Batman, can you play the video you had hacked for the other members that have not seen it yet?"

Batman acknowledged his words with a nod and went to the large computer in the room. After inserting a disk and pressing on a few keys, the video started to play.

When Naruto wrecked Orochimaru's secret base, the earth tremors his rampage caused and the Kyuubi demolishing their way outside made it so the secret base become exposed. Naturally, the Justice League was the first to take notice of it. And downloading the data the main computer contained was the first thing Batman, Catwoman and Wonder Woman did once they reached the base.

What Batman was asked to play were the videos that the surveillance cameras of Orochimaru's base had recorded. The videos were not long - only a few minutes. But the black-lightning-encased juggernaut left a very deep impression on everyone in the room. And when Naruto had lost himself to his rage and roared "Where. Is. My. Sister?" the Superheroes felt their skin crawling.

The video started to get blurry after his shout and it became very difficult to understand what exactly was going on. Still, towards the end, they could see how Naruto's spear-like arm pierced through the clone's body, impaling her.

"From this video, it is obvious that the clone and her master were keeping his sister hostage. And we all know that Luthor was killed after trying to blackmail Uzumaki with his sister."

After making a small pause, Shazam spoke again:

"Uzumaki is unlike most villains that we are facing on a daily basis because everything he had done until now had had a rather special motivation - it all revolved around his sister."

"I'm not trying to excuse his behaviour – I fully agree with Green Lantern that such a dangerous individual should not be let to roam free after the atrocious acts that he had committed."

"What I'm trying to say is that now that he had gotten his sister back, he should have no reason to do anything else for a while. Therefore, this matter could wait until we make a plan for taking him on. Because given his immense power, we have to thread carefully. Only brute force won't work against someone like him."

One of the heroes in the room said:

"Why the need to be so overly-cautious? One on one he may be stronger than each one of us but what chance does he stand against the entire Justice League?"

Shazam was about to speak again but this time, it was actually Superman that had been silent until then who spoke.

"True, the Justice League can defeat him. I have no doubt about that. _However_ ," Superman said, stressing on the last word "how many of us will die in the process?"

A silence that you could hear a pin dropping was suddenly instilled when the rest of the heroes heard Superman's words.

"We have faced many villains and many threats until now... only one year ago, we fought against Thanagarians' invasion on Earth. And miraculously, through it all, he have escaped with next to no casualties. Probably because most of the time, truth being told, we were simply more powerful than our enemies."

"But we need to wake up."

"We are about to face someone that only a few weeks ago had murdered over one hundred metahumans – dangerous, death-row individuals."

"Just remember how difficult were all of our encounters with Darkseid. Still, in spite of all, I could at least hold my own against him. And with your help, I – we – have managed to drive him away."

"But against Uzumaki? ...I _know_ for sure that I would not be able to win alone."

Superman rose up from his seat, his eyes looking at the blue planet through the window of the room.

"As you said, Uzumaki has no chance against the entire League. But you have to ask yourself would you like be one of the unfortunate casualties? Would any of you like to die skewered and impaled by hundreds of bones?"

"None of us shall act even in the tiniest way against Uzumaki until we have a plan. We need a plan, a way to make sure that there won't be any unnecessary losses in our ranks."

"Because the moment we chose to become heroes, we became a symbol of hope for the ordinary people. We must not let their faith in us waver. At the very least, we have to survive, for their sake."

 _Scene break_

While the Justice League was having an important meeting centred around concocting a plan to capture him, Naruto was spending the Christmas Eve in a weird atmosphere. Rather said it would be that it was weird how normal it was: him and his sister were both leaning on each other, sitting on the sofa in the living room, near the fireplace as they were watching a family Christmas movie. Furthermore, for a change, Kyuubi and Naruto were not bickering. Instead, the puny fox was making purring sounds as he was sleeping soundly in his lap.

Naruto felt like he was dreaming...only 3 days passed since he had gotten his beloved sister back and what he was experiencing the entire time was like a dream. He was happier than he remembered to have ever been, in both of his lives.

Before the movie ended, his sister fell asleep too, her head resting on his shoulder. She was snoring softly and a bit of droll was leaking from her half-opened lips, making Naruto chuckle at how adorable she was. Lifting up the blanket, he covered Misaki with it to keep her warm. A relaxed smile graced his face, making his nearly-permanent scowl fade away for the moment. Absent-mindedly, his right hand started to softly pet the fox cub in his lap.

At Naruto's touch, Kyuubi let out a groan of comfort and proceeded to stretch his tiny limbs and fluffy tails. Then, while still being asleep, the fox snuggled tighter into Naruto's abdomen, his purring sounds audibly intensifying.

Naruto had to make a superhuman effort to stop his body from rocking with laughter.

 _'Who would have thought that the mightiest chakra beast of them all, Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox would one day snuggle into his container's lap and purr like a spoiled cat?'_

He chuckled silently and let his head lay on the coach's back rest. As he closed his eyes, before falling asleep, he thought:

 _'So this is what happiness feels like...'_

* * *

AN: it's not only me that feels happy today but Naruto as well lol. I hope you liked it. As usual, any constructive criticism is appreciated as long as it is done in a polite manner.

 _(No beta and I'm not an English native either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	28. Chapter 28 - Awakening

AN: Some of you seem to think that everyone from Naruto-verse remebers their past life. Actually, only Naruto and Orochimaru do. And Naruto remembers only because of Kyuubi.

That said, Sarutobi and Itachi don't remember. Had they remembered, they wouldn't have been so passive about Orochimaru escaping. They would have done everything in their power to kill him as soon as possible because they would have known what was the former Sannin capable of.

"Hello" - normal talk

 _'Hello'_ \- thinking

* * *

 **Chapte 28 - Awakening**

 _Gotham - a city that used to be infamous for being one of the most depraved and most dangerous cities in USA._

 _Gotham - a city that, according to the last studies and researches, has become in the last 3 years the absolute safest place for ordinary citizens to live in the entire USA._

 _The main reason for this? Batman and his partner, Catwoman. But not the old Batman...the new one. The differences between the two of them are so radical that many people and even some of the superheroes and supervillains suspect that the current man hiding behind the mask might be completely different than the one from the beginning._

 _The way Batman and Catwoman started to maim criminals left and right had instilled a great terror in the hearts of the criminals that used to wreak havoc before. Rapists are having their genitals brutally crushed, killers their arms or/and legs amputated...there was even a case that has kept appearing on the first page of each one of Gotham's newspapers for nearly a week straight where someone who physically abused his 10 year old son was whipped until a catatonic state by Catwoman with her bull-whip._

 _The second reason for this phenomenon? Uzumaki Naruto. Two years ago, in revenge for his dead sister, he massacred the entire Arkham Asylum. Many of the most dangerous villains that used to terrorize the city had been killed off in that incident too._

 _However, while Batman, Catwoman and Uzumaki Naruto had taken care of the so-called big bad wolves, there are other characters that are preoccupying themselves with the minor criminals as well._

 _There are 2 other heroes:_

 _1\. Nightwing - a former side-kick of Batman that became independent because of not agreeing with Batman's policy thinking of it as being too cruel._

 _2\. Batgirl - a hero that seemed to have popped out of nowhere. She is in no partnership with the Dark Knight of Gotham but, when asked, she declared that she is carrying his name out of respect for what he had done for the city._

 _Do you want to hear, though, one more piece of news that is only further cementing Gotham City as the absolute safest place for ordinary citizens to live in USA? Listen well, my dears!_

 _ **After an absence of 2 years, Uzumaki Naruto, our Dark Avanger, our true Hero has finally returned to Gotham City!**_

As she was reading the article on her tablet, awe was written on Misaki's face.

 _'From what onii-chan told me, I thought that he was hated and feared by everyone. He portrayed himself as a torturer and a cruel murderer...I've never thought that the people would have such a different opinion of him! Could it be that he is not aware of what is actually going on?!'_ Misaki said to herself in disbelief.

She tapped with a finger on the tabs of the browser and over 20 windows popped up: they were all articles and various blogs and forums where almost all the people were glorifying Uzumaki Naruto's deeds. He was presented as someone who was not afraid to get his hands dirty in order to get rid of trash. He was shown as a "true man" and someone worthy of respect for holding such a deep love for his family.

There were some more reasonable people that looked at the situation from both angles and understood Naruto's true nature. That he wasn't really a hero but merely an excessively cruel man that had wanted revenge. But their voices were drowned by the much larger number of people that had an almost fanatic worship for their so-called Dark Hero.

The current situation in the world was very unbalanced. The ordinary people were often treated by the all powerful metahumans as no better than ants and even the government didn't give the impression that it cared about the civilians as much as it cared about metahumans. Along the years, a deep resentment was born in the hearts of most of the ordinary people and civilians. Frustration and helpless anger had been silently boiling within them for many years...that was the reason why once Uzumaki Naruto acted the way he did, most of the people embraced him as if he were some sort of Messiah; because Naruto did what they have wished for so long to do but were unable - he got vengeance for them. He killed the Joker, someone that the authorities refused to give the death penalty even after killing a few hundred innocents. That's why a civil war nearly started when the people thought that Uzumaki Naruto was going to be executed and millions of them went out in the streets, protesting violently.

Misaki clenched her fist.

 _'How can he not know about this?! I... I have to show it to him! It's incredible!'_

Making up her mind, Misaki shouted:

"Naruto!"

"Hey, Naruto!"

But he didn't reply to her. Instead, it was Kyuubi that entered the living room where she was sitting.

"The brat is training his chakra technique now. He cannot come to your right now." the fox's squeaky voice came.

Hearts appeared in Misaki's eyes whenever she heard the miniature Kyuubi speak. She met the 'talking fox' only a few days ago but she became enamoured with it from at first sight. When she also heard Kyuubi's adorable voice, she fell in love with him completely.

"Kurama~" Misaki said in a singing voice and patted her lap with her hands. "Come here please~!"

Kyuubi harrumphed.

"I'm not a plush toy for you to smother every day, woman!"

An adorable nine-tailed fox that was acting like a tsundere...Misaki had to force herself not squeal in delight at the sight of it.

But Kyuubi always spoke with a sharp tongue...where was the 'dere' side of him? - when Misaki called out for him, despite his harsh rebukes, Kyuubi's fluffy tails would always start to flail in the air, betraying his excitement.

"If you don't come, I'm going to yell and disturb onii-chan!"

Kyuubi tsk-ed but came to her and hopped up in her lap.

"Now you better shut your trap and don't disturb the brat from his training." Kyuubi said haughtily.

In fact, Kyuubi didn't give a crap about "not disturbing Naruto's training" and Misaki was aware of that too. Kyuubi just didn't want to admit that he enjoyed Misaki's soft back-rubs and belly-rubs immensely. He always tried to make it look like he was accepting her petting because it couldn't be helped; like he was making a sacrifice.

Despite the front Kyuubi was trying to put up, in no time, his traitorous purring filled the room - much to the readhead's not so hidden glee. Still, in that moment, Kyuubi couldn't bring himseld to care about that; the pleasure he was feeling had thrown him into the seventh heaven.

 _Scene break_

Naruto was sitting cross-legged in the dojo of their compound.

His hands were positioned in a ram seal and his eyes closed, his consciousness entirely focused on the chakra's circulation inside his body. He was paying special attention to the new chakra system that was created once the 2nd chakra heart appeared in his chest after the Heavenly Tribulation he had went through on the Prison Island. Compared to before, his reserves had become more than double. Furthermore, new pathways appeared in his body, pathways which created a dense network that connected his new chakra skeleton with his fleshy body.

Naruto opened his eyes which were now slit like that of a reptile, but still blue.

In front of him, a shadow clone had been waiting for him to finish his preparations. The moment Naruto opened his eyes, the clone suddenly threw a wooden pin with all of its strength at the original.

Naruto's slit pupils suddenly enlarged like those of cat in the darkness. The world around him looked like it came to a halt, the wooden needle that was shot at two times the speed of the sound being now almost frozen in mid-air, moving infinitely slower.

However, after a few seconds, the projectile thrown at him looked like it started to accelerate. Immediately, Naruto tried to lift his arm, to catch the needle...only to be stupefied. His hand was not responding!

"Ouch!"

It was only after the wooden needle buried itself halfway into his shoulder that his hand began to move.

"Crap...I forgot to create the Inner Bone Armour."

The Inner Bone Armour was a technique which created a thin bone membrane under the skin all over his body, making him nearly immune to any kind of physical damage - Naruto had yet to find anything that could pierce or destroy it. However, now, he had forgotten to make it beforehand. And the harm that the wooden needle could cause when thrown by the clone's insane strength was not any lower than that of a bullet.

Naruto's clone continued to throw wooden needles at him. However, the result was the same every time.

"What is happening to me now is similar to what Sasuke experienced in his first fight against Rock Lee during the Chunin Exams - his Sharingan could predict Lee's movements but his body was not fast enough to follow his brain's commands." Naruto concluded.

Naruto's eyes could follow the movement of the needle, he could see the world being slowed down many times over. However, his reaction speed was too slow.

Still, inwardly, he was ecstatic. It wasn't only once that he had been secretly envious of how easily Sasuke had had it thanks to his Doujutsu. Sasuke could instantly learn any jutsu he saw with his eyes and he could learn even taijutsu moves just by seeing them once. That, without even going to mention that when his Sharingan evolved, he became not much different than a god, being able to create even small planets, call down meteorites, control gravity and teleport. It was a terribly overpowered bloodline limit.

Naruto rubbed the tip of his nose.

"No point in still being envious. My Doujutsu may not be as spectacular as the Sharingan and not as much of an overpowered hack, but it's still amazing that I got one in this life."

The first time Naruto had slowed down the time was nearly 3 years before when Superman tried to capture him after he caused the Arkham Massacre and tortured the Joker to death. At that time Naruto had not realized it on the moment, but when it happened again, he understood that his eyes had unknowingly become a Doujutsu.

"However, I need to train hard... I have to drastically improve my agility and reaction speed. Simply slowing down time in my perception will be useless if my body is not fast enough to react."

Reaching that conclusion, he decided to end the training session for that day. He had other, more important things to do - like dotting over his sister for example.

Taking off his bloodied shirt, he went into the house to get himself cleaned up. The house where the lived and the dojo were two separated buildings. Therefore, Naruto had to walk shirtless in the cold of December. He could simply use a Shunshin to appear in his own room, but ever since Misaki came back into his life, Naruto began to enjoy the feeling of normalcy that she brought along with her. If there was an option between using and not using his powers and unless it was too bothersome, Naruto would often choose to do it the normal way - like going to his room like a normal man, instead of directly teleporting there.

He stepped outside but just as he slid the door of the dojo closed, a foreboding feeling came over him. Black Lightning immediately burst out from his body and numerous spike-like bones grew out of his ribcage and spine.

 _Scene break - a few hours before_

"Is our plan a failure?" Hirzuen Sarutobi muttered as he looked at the female metahuman in front of him.

She was submerged in a very dense liquid similar to concrete that was making her unable to move a muscle and shackles that were crackling with electricity were keeping her tied up from her arms, legs, head, neck and midsection in an X-like fashion.

Next to Sarutobi, as calm as ever, Uchiha Itachi replied respectfully:

"It's still too early to know that for sure. From my experience with our former leader, Ra's Al Ghul, after getting out of Lazarus Pit, he would experience a temporary madness. This girl is just a clone. It's only to be expected that she would act the way she did. After all, only two days have passed since she used the pit."

Despite Itachi's words, the old man was not very hopeful. His instinct, an ability that he had honed during his entire lifetime after numerous life-death battles was telling him that something was going to go terribly wrong.

"Itachi, bring Faust and Doctor Mist here immediately. Call Brother Night as well."

Although surprised, the Uchiha was a ninja groomed and trained by Ra's Al Ghul personally since a very frail age. He didn't waste time questioning the order Sarutobi gave him. Hiruzen was now his master. And his master's orders were absolute.

Just as the ninja left the room sprinting, a subtle ripple appeared on the surface of the very dense liquid that was keeping Superman's clone imprisoned.

 _Scene break_

 _"So much...I have invested so much in you..."_

 _"All these years of research to find a way to remove your racial weakness to kryptonite...all those enormous sums of money invested...all those subjects experimented on in order to perfect my skill in modifying the DNA, to become able to improve your body...all of this to make you the ultimate fighter, the strongest being in the Universe!"_

 _"But in the end, I did all of these for what...?"_

 _"For nothing! It was all wasted!"_

 _[...]_

 _"Sorry? ...you have nothing to be sorry about."_

 _"After all, it was my mistake for creating..."_

 _"...A failure."_

Orochimaru's words were playing in Galatea's mind again and again and again like an infinite loop.

 _'I disappointed him...I am a failure...'_

She wanted to shake her head, but she couldn't. Her entire body was completely immobilized. Even with all her monstrous strength, she could not move an inch.

Orochimaru, the one whom she had considered as her father was then one who killed her... she didn't know what to feel. Her love for him had been genuine. But as genuine her love had been, as genuine her hatred was now. Even so, in spite of her hatred, she earned to be acknowledged by him. Galatea wanted to meet Orochimaru again and prove him that she was not a failure...to prove him that she was not just a useless tool...and what other way to prove that than to defeat the one that had defeated her first?

Her mind now set, Galatea started to struggle. But when she tried to use her immense strength to break free of the shackles, her body was violently electrocuted.

But she clenched her teeth.

 _'This... this electricity is nothing...it's nothing compared to that man's black lightning!'_

With renewed efforts, she tried to break free again. But this time, when he the violent shock of electricity came, Galatea merely grit her teeth and forced herself to endure the hellish pain.

However, electricity was one of the few things that Kryptonians was relatively weak against. Because of that, in the end, she couldn't hold it anymore. A scream like that of a primal beast came out of her throat.

It was in that moment that a spark of black light flickered above her navel.

Galatea pulled against her shackles violently once again, eliciting another shock of electricity. She lost count how many times she was electrocuted...but at some point, a strange thing happened...the shock of electricity that should have tortured her, was suddenly sucked into the pores of her skin. Her pain disappeared.

An electrifying feeling coursed through Galatea's body. However, it wasn't a painful sensation like before. Her temperature rose up and sparks of black light began to flash on her abdomen on the place where Naruto had stabbed her through with his black lightning-encased bone spear, quickly spreading on the rest of her body, covering her eentirly.

At first, Galatea did not understand what was going on with her body but it was like a new power had been awoken in her. She could feel it course from her abdomen to the rest of her body, through small, vein-like pathways. A suspicion arose in her hearth:

 _'Is this...chakra?'_

* * *

AN: Galatea awakened her chakra and she even got what looks like Naruto's black lightning. Also, she is now immune to electricity-based attacks too to boot. I'm eagerly waiting for your reactions :D

 _(Got no beta yet and I'm not an English native either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made)_


	29. Chapter 29 - Punitive Force

AN: In regards to the last chapter's events, ask yourself the following questions:

Why did Cadmus kidnap Misaki?

Why did Orochimaru use Misaki's DNA together with that of Supergirl's in order to create Galatea?

Why was Orochimaru relentlessly looking for a way to *awaken* Galatea's chakra?

Many of you are under the impression that her having chakra is something that I just pulled out of my ass when it was something clearly foreshadowed from the beginning of the story...It makes me think that most of you don't really care about the plot, that you're here only for the fighting scenes. Otherwise you would have noticed something so obvious. Sigh. Disappointment level over 9000.

Those that have not abandoned the story, enjoy! :)

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thinking

* * *

 **Chapter 29 - Punitive Force**

Felix Faust, an over 5000 year old magician that could control the elements to his own whim and wield arcane powers beyond most people's imagination.

Doctor Mist, a metahuman rumoured to have stopped aging after standing in the Pillar of Life. His ability in creating illusions was said to be unparalleled.

Brother Night, a metahuman that specialized in taking possession of other people's body. It was different from mind control - he was actually transferring his consciousness into his target's body, directly controlling it.

They had been specifically hired by the League of Shadows to counter Galatea. And, as magic users, they truly were the ultimate counter for a Kryptonian like her.

When Galatea was first taken out of Lazarus Pit, in her temporary madness, she had tried to kill everyone in her sight. At that time, it was the 3 of them that easily subdued her: Doctor Mist cast a powerful illusion on her, Faust Felix controlled the earth to immobilize her body for a few moments and Brother Night took over her body just long enough for the assassins of the League of Shadows to shackle her with the electric cuffs.

This time, however, looking at how Galatea was holding Brother Night's still pulsating heart in her hands, things have obviously not gone like the first time...Black clad ninjas began to surround her from all the sides. In front of her, Sarutobi Hirzuen was staying ready to strike, his long bo-staff glowing with a blue light.

Galatea threw Brother Night's heart away carelessly and turned her eyes towards the old man in front of her. A rather cruel smile appeared on her otherwise angelic face.

"You think you can take me on?"

She started to slowly step forward, the formless pressure she exuded making the ninja surrounding her involuntarily step back to maintain the distance.

"Nothing but magic works against me...and even then, I just murdered two of your magicians and one scurried away into one of his portals like a rat."

"Just what do you hope you could possibly do against me?"

When Galatea got to only 6 feet away from Sarutobi, the muscles all over his body tensed, ready to strike her any moment then. However, at the last moment, she stopped.

Her sharp gaze met Sarutobi Hiruzen's steady one.

"I know that I had died. But, somehow, you have brought me back to life." Galatea said. "As a sign of gratitude for that, and regardless of your hidden agenda concerning me, I won't kill you for trying to keep me captive."

"Do get in my way though and I won't hesitate to slaughter each one of you. Not even one will escape alive today."

Sarutobi contemplated her words for a few moments. In the meantime, Uchiha Itachi's hand went to the handle of the short sword strapped on his back, his body looking as though he was one breath away from attacking.. But then, the old man lifted up his hand.

His subordinates broke the encirclement and stepped back.

"Looks like your old age did not make you senile." Galatea said rudely. "You made a wise choice."

With that, the blonde woman crouched...a sudden earthquake occurred and the concrete floor under her feet was rendered to rubble as she propelled herself into the air. Another large tremor shook the entire base as Galatea smashed her way upwards through the ceiling, destroying everything standing in her path.

Deafening alarms started to ring all over the base that was now shaking from everywhere. The entire mountainside looked like it was about collapse due to the Kryptonian's insane rampaging.

 _Scene break_

A straight line could be seen parting the clouds above the Atlantic Ocean. Galatea was flying at a speed much higher than the speed of sound! She had never flown at that kind of speed before, she had never felt so much strength coursing through her body like after what she deemed as her chakra finally awakened. Each of her body's functions seemed to have improved and even the pace at which she was absorbing the solar radiation had drastically increased.

In no time, the shore of the Northern American continent appeared at the horizon. From there, it was only a matter of minutes for her to arrive at her destination.

 _Scene break_

He stepped outside but just as he slid the door of the dojo closed, a foreboding feeling came over him. Black Lightning immediately burst out from his body and numerous spike-like bones grew out of his ribcage and spine.

Naruto suddenly shouted:

"KURAMA! TAKE MISAKI AND RUN!"

An enormous nine-tailed fox suddenly burst through the wall of the house. It was Kyuubi, his size now even larger than that of a horse and 5 of his tails were securely wrapped around Misaki who looked frightened.

"What happened, Naruto?" Kyuubi asked urgently, his current deep and demonic-sounding voice greatly startling the girl.

"Someone extremely powerful is recklessly projecting his killing intent on me. Run! Protect her as if she were me!"

Kyuubi jumped over the tall fence surrounding the Monkey King Dojo and broke into a very fast sprint, easily outrunning the cars on the street.

No sooner than Kyuubi ran away, like a meteorite, someone crashed into Naruto. The ground under his feet cracked like a spider-web and the shockwave resulted from their clash broke all the windows of the house and the dojo.

It was Galatea who looked positively delighted at the expression of shock marring Naruto's face in that moment.

"How are you alive?!"

But she didn't reply. Instead, she shot a powerful kick at his head.

Naruto blocked it with his arms...only to be sent hurling through the air by the strength behind her leg. He broke through the fence surrounding his compound, only stopping into the wall of one of the buildings across the street.

With a groan, he lifted himself up from the rubble resulted from him being slammed into the wall. He realized that he was inside of his neighbours' house and that they were looking at him scared, all huddled together into a corner of a room. Incidentally, his eyes fell on the father that had instinctively placed himself in front of his wife and child to protect them from harm with his body.

Then, he turned his eyes towards the blonde Krytponian that was coming towards him floating slowly and confidently in mid air.

 _'One careless move and this fight could kill tens of people in an instant. The collateral damage is going to be insane.'_

Until then, in his current life, Naruto had never fought against someone in a place where innocents could be harmed. Most of the time he was either in remote places or in the middle of the "enemy's camp".

He looked again at the people that were looking at him frightened from the corner of the room.

 _'This could have been me. Had I not had Kurama to save me and make me remember the memories of my past life, it could have been me that would have cowered in fear at the sight of god-like metahumans fighting.'_

Naruto made up his mind. While he generally not cared about anyone else, he had also never actively tried to hurt anyone that had not wronged him.

'How would I be any different than the ones that I killed in revenge if I were to also disregard the innocents' lives like they were ants?'

Black lightning burst from Naruto's body at an insane intensity and Galatea's confident smirk was wiped off her face when, with a black blur, Naruto disappeared from in front of her eyes.

With a shunshin, just like Rock Lee had once done it to Gaara during the Chunin Exams of his past life, Naruto appeared as though he had suddenly teleported beneath her - his foot violently impacted Galatea's chin sending her upwards. She didn't have the chance to right herself in the air as a Shadow Clone of Naruto appeared behind her back. Crystal like-bones grew up from the clone's ribcage and protruded in a grotesque manner into Galatea's back making her scream in pain.

But the clone was not done. While having Galatea immobilized in his extended ribcage, black lightning engulfed the two of them.

However, the expected howl of agony did not come... instead, under Naruto's confused stare, Galatea head-butted the clone, dispelling it. Then, startling Naruto even further, the black lightning that should have normally charred her to death, was simply absorbed into her body. As that was happening, at a speed visible to the naked eye, the wounds left by the clone's bones in her back started to close up.

 _'W-What the hell is with that bullshit regeneration?! And why is my lightning not working o her anymore?!'_

 _'Don't tell me...her body adapted to it and became immune after experiencing it only once?!'_

Breathing heavily, but otherwise with not even a scratch left on her skin, Galatea glared at him.

 _'This isn't good.'_ Naruto thought. Black lightning engulfed his body once more and he seemed to have transformed into a streak of black light as he broke into a mad dash towards the ocean.

 _'It looks like I can't finish her off cleanly...this fight will surely blow out of proportions. Countless bystanders would die if they got caught up in it.'_

In the meantime, Galatea was having completely different thoughts, the danger their fight posed for ordinary people never appearing in her mind. She was single-mindedly focused on defeating her foe; aside from that nothing else mattered for her.

 _'What is he playing at? Is he trying to lure me into a trap?'_

With that in mind, Galatea started to fly on Naruto's trail but at an enough distance for her to have time to react if he were to try to suddenly launch a sneak attack.

 _Scene break_

Meanwhile, from the Watchtower, Martian Manhunter contacted Batman telepathically.

 _"Batman, a serious disturbance took place in Gotham City."_

"I know. I'm at the scene right now."

Batman replied. He was in his bat-themed aircraft, following the two "walking nukes" from a safe distance. He knew better than to try to interfere by himself with the two god-like metahumans' fight.

"J'onn, please contact the core members of the Justice League...a clash between Uzumaki and the clone is going to destroy the city if we don't stop it." Batman asked.

Only 1 minute after that, Superman appeared in the skies of Gotham. Naruto had killed Lex Luthor on his "turf" as the saying goes. He was so bitter and worried about it that he had not even gone home to spend the Christmas with his family, opting instead to look over the safety of Metropolis City. Because of that, at Martian Manhunter's prompt, Superman arrived in Gotham in a matter of seconds. When he got there, with his enhanced vision Superman naturally discovered Batman's aircraft immediately.

 _Scene break_

Worth mentioning was that Naruto didn't remember his speed to have ever reached in his past life the speed at which he was running in that moment. He was running so fast that he had to actively use his still immature Doujutsu to slow down the time in perception, to be able to avoid hitting other people or vehicles.

The friction with the air had been so powerful that his clothes had began to burn by the time he arrived at the shore.

After diving into the water to extinguish the fire on his clothes, he jumped out and started to run on top of the water at the maximum speed he was capable of, enormous waves of water rising up on each of his side after he passed.

Eventually, he stopped. He was so far from the coast that he could not see the shore anymore, at tens of miles away.

In less than a minute, Galatea reach him.

"You sure can run fast." she said mockingly.

"My personality may have many issues but I won't drag others into my mess. Here, in the middle of the ocean, nobody else will get in the way."

With no further words, Galatea plunged at Naruto who was already starting to think that choosing to fight on top of the ocean might have not been such a great idea in the end. The waves were enormous, tens of feet in height, making it hard for him to keep his equilibrium while also fighting someone as insanely powerful as the mutated Kryptonian in front of him.

 _Scene break_

"Now, where are those two psychopaths?" Flash asked when he finally arrived to Gotham.

"Ironically, the self-proclaimed 'Fastest Man Alive' is the last one to arrive." Green Lantern said with a frown.

"Hey, don't give me that, I'm coming all the way from Florida! I was in the middle of my holiday, you know that?" Flash retorted.

Before their bickering could escalate any further, Wonder Woman intervened.

"There's no time for this. You are warriors, not children. Act like ones!"

It was rare for Wonder Woman to raise her voice like that so the two wisely didn't continue their little spat.

Hawkgirl, who arrived only a few moments before the speedster said

"Still, Flash has a point. You've called us all here but Gotham is as peaceful as it could be. Where are Uzumaki and the superclone?"

"Uzumaki baited the clone to the middle of the ocean. Apparently he can also walk on water...however, he is as good as dead. It was a stupid move for him to come into my territory." Aquaman said confidently.

"Why would he 'bait' her to the middle of the ocean? Don't tell me that he..." Zatanna began to say, only for Batman to continue her words:

"Yes, he baited her there in order to not involve others in their fight."

"So what, is he supposed to be some sort of hero now?" Hawkgirl asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Do remember that despite his cruelty, Uzumaki Naruto has never killed someone that he considered innocent. Not even once. His victims have all been either criminals or corrupted people." Shazam said.

At his words, many of the gathered superheroes frowned. What Shazam just said made their job harder than before. It would have been easier for them to simply see Naruto as an evil that needs to be eradicated. However, now that Naruto had unknowingly proven them that he was not mindlessly killing anyone and that he actually cared about not harming innocents, their conscience would stop them from takin lethal actions against him. And the head-figure of the Justice League, Superman, felt the same.

"It's time for us to step in. But before we start, I have only one a few words to say." Superman started. "This will be a very dangerous battle for all of us. I know we are seen as superheroes and that it's in our job's description to risk our life for the sake of maintaining peace."

"However, in the following fight, I ask you one thing: please...don't try to be a hero. If any of us die here today, even if we manage to subdue Uzumaki Naruto, we will have lost. Please, do not treat your lives lightly."

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Shazam, Green Lantern, Flash, Doctor Fate, Zatanna, Hawkgirl, Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Steel and Red Tornado.

Apart from Supergirl, the most powerful superheroes of the Justice League had gathered, as one, in Gotham. A punitive force with the sole purpose of subduing what they perceived as two monsters on the same level of threat with the God of Evil himself, Darkseid.

* * *

AN: I know I'm a total asshole for stopping here lol, but... I hope I will manage to make the next chapter badass enough to earn your forgiveness :D

 **Okaze helped me with proofreading this. Many thanks**


	30. Chapter 30 - Monster vs Monster

AN: Ok, I don't know what has gotten into me but I've been a friggin' roll with this story as of late. 4 or 5 chapter in the last 2 weeks?

I've got to change the place from which I'm stealing wifi lest I become suspicious lol. Enjoy!

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 30 - Monster vs Monster**

Just as a particular wave with a height of over 30 feet destabilized Naruto, Galatea took the chance to pounce on him again, the clash of her fist with his ribcage creating a vacuum in the sea.

A considerable amount of chakra was expelled from Naruto's body as he righted his body in mid-air, flying for a few moments in order to not fall in the very turbulent waters below.

On the other hand, Galatea was secretly frustrated. From the very day she was born, she had been trained by real experts in all types of martial arts. She was a true elite when it came to hand-to-hand combat. Despite that, she could simply not land a good hit on him.

 _'His martial arts are top notch, I cannot find a single gap in his defence.'_ she thought to herself. _'And even when I take advantage of his unsteady foothold and do manage to slip past his guard, those blue bones of him are always in the way.'_

And no matter how hard she punched, it looked like she could do no real harm to those bones that protruded from all over his body. They seemed indestructible.

On the other hand, Naruto's breathing was starting to become laborious the more their fight continued.

 _'The ocean's surface is already turbulent as it is, but with the shockwaves generated by our clashes it gets even worse...'_ Naruto thought. And whenever that happened, he was forced to fly in order to not let himself get swallowed by the water because his enemy would surely not lose the opportunity to end him.

 _'Moreover, her hits are not as ineffective as she believes them to be.'_ Naruto thought as he forced himself to swallow back the blood that threatened to burst out of his mouth.

His bones were, indeed, nigh indestructible. However, his internal organs were not. The strength behind each of the Kryptonian's hits was seriously insane. And, although his bones absorbed most of the impact, they could not completely nullify it. After a few tens of clashes, his internal organs began to show signs of being injured.

Even so, Galatea did not suspect anything yet. Naruto had made sure of that by not showing any signs of weakness. Using deceit was part of being a shinobi. He had to not show her any weakness to prevent her from exploiting it.

A very large depression was suddenly formed in the water beneath Naruto's feet as he pushed with the sole of his feet against it with all of his strength. He was propelled in the air like a bullet, slamming against Galatea with his spiky body.

Blood began to flow from the places where Naruto's bones stabbed her. Still, despite the pain, Galatea suddenly slammed her elbow into his back, hurling him back into the water like a rocket.

"You won't escape that easily!" She yelled and plunged towards the falling body of Naruto, intending to take that chance to finish him off.

Just as she was about to reach his body, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. Before Galatea could recover from her surprise, 6 Shadow Clones of Naruto burst from the water at the same time towards her.

"I've had enough of your tricks! Fight me like a man should, like a warrior!" she yelled and, taking a very deep breath, she suddenly expelled a very powerful gale of freezing wind.

The clones became blocks of ice in a instant and the entire surface of the ocean froze over for 1 mile around her.

"Where are you? Come out and die, cow-"

The ice somewhere 20 feet away from Galatea burst open and a silhouette jumped from below.

"Flying, nigh invulnerability, super speed, immunity to lightning and monstrous brute strength...is this not enough? You can also freeze the fucking ocean on a radius of one mile around...Fucking monster!"

Galatea's pale face flushed a bit in anger.

"I don't want to hear that from someone who pulls blue bones out of his ass!" she yelled back at him.

Naruto put his hand in a one-handed ram seal, trying to form a telepathic link with Kyuubi. Because the bijuu had been jailed for so long in his body, the two of them could still contact each other via a limited form of telepathy even now, after Kyuubi got "unsealed".

While focusing on creating the mental connection with the fox, he kept spouting bullshit, in order to keep the Kryptonian busy and prevent her for attacking him for even a few seconds longer.

"Regardless...what is your goal? Why are you attacking me? Simply revenge? - you have no right to take revenge after keeping my sister hostage for nearly 3 years. You got what was coming for you."

Seeing Galatea not replying, he continued:

"Or it is that bastard, Orochimaru? That slimy shit has no other better things to do than to make my second life miserable too?"

"Don't speak like that of my father!" Galatea shouted before she could even stop herself. But when she remembered that her father was the one who killed her she became even angrier. It was almost as though it was against her nature to hate her creator even after the way he betrayed her.

"Ho-Ho... he got a very loyal dog there. His ability in brainwashing people seems to be as good as ever. Did he perhaps tell you that he loved you? I would not be surprised even if he told you that you are his most treasured person..."

In that moment, the Kryptonian looked positively murderous. Her face was livid and it appeared as though she was about to fire the largest heat beams that she has ever fired from her eyes.

Naruto realized that he might have taken it too far, so he changed tactics immediately.

"You know, once upon a time, there was a very powerful warrior. He was considered a shoe-in for the leading position of a militaristic country and everyone treated him with respect."

"But that was not enough for him. In pursuit of his mad ambition, he started to cross the limits that were considered moral in that country. His lab research was found holding innocent people which were used as test subjects for his shady experiments."

"He was exiled. But he never gave up on his ambition: that of becoming that ultimate warrior, one that achieved the feat of gaining the entire knowledge in the world. A feat that would be impossible...Unless one was immortal..."

"As time passed, he joined various terrorist organisations. In the end he took over a country and forced on it his own militaristic regime. Furthermore, with sweet words, faked kindness and his natural charisma, he started to gather talented people from all over the world. They were made to think that they were special to him...only for him to sacrifice them later on, transferring his consciousness into their bodies. This was the way that he devised to cheat death...That person is none other than your loving father."

"And he did the same thing to a friend of mine whom I considered a brother...he manipulated him in such a way that he, my brother in all but blood, shoved a lightning fist into my chest, right through my heart."

"You think that you are special...That you are the his most prized pupil...What makes you think that? Haha. That's exactly what everyone before you was made to believe!"

"What makes you think you won't end up the same? Betrayed, with your life wasted away?"

Little did Naruto know how effective his words were on Galatea in that moment...

After remembering his memories of his past life, Naruto and Kyuubi even laughed at some point that his greatest power back then had not been the Six Paths Sage Mode nor was the Rasenshuriken...no, his greatest victories had always been achieved through the use of his greatest but most hidden weapon - the "Talk no Jutsu".

Now, his talent with words was having an even more powerful effect on someone that was as emotionally unstable as Galatea became after Orochimaru killed her. Even more, coincidentally, Naruto's words were nearly spot-on from Galatea's point of view. She truly thought that she had been betrayed and thrown away like a useless rag by her father. She recalled his final words to her before the poison that he had administrated her killed her:

 _"Sorry? ...you have nothing to be sorry about."_

 _"After all, it was my mistake for creating..."_

 _"...A failure."_

What further cemented Naruto's words and her belief that Orochimaru had never seen her as anything but an eventual vessel for prolonging his life were the words that he had told her back then:

 _"I've made you nigh impossible to kill. At least impossible for normal humans. However, it was always my plan to leave you vulnerable to a certain poison that only I can concoct. It was for the unlikely case where you would slip out my control."_

Tears began to flow from her baby blue eyes anew. Galatea was, in the end, only 3 years old. And Orochimaru had been the one person that she had valued more than everything else in the entire world. Because of that, his betrayal hurt her even more.

In the meantime, Naruto's chakra finally managed to reach Kyuubi and establish a telepathic link.

 _'Kurama, where are you? Are the two of you safe?'_

 _'Yes we are. But, Naruto, you don't have much time left. Wrap up your fight with the clone because you'll be in deep shit in a few minutes.'_

 _'What do you mean?'_

 _'I saw around a dozen superheroes - the elites of Justice League - gathering above Gotham. It doesn't take a genius to figure out their purpose.'_

 _'Sons of bitches...they are betting on me taking out the clone. Then, exhausted as I will be, they will have no real trouble in capturing me...Shit!'_

 _'However, I cannot finish it quickly...I am not even sure I can kill her while I'm fighting on water...she somehow became fucking immune to my black lightning if you can believe that! Not just that, her strength seems to have skyrocketed and what is truly the worst, she has a regeneration ability similar to Shodaime and Tsunade-baa-chan...for fuck's sake, it's like I'm fighting against a young Tsunade on steroids that also has the ability to fly, shoot heat beams and breathe ice.'_

 _'Well, she certainly does have the looks down right.'_ Kyuubi said lecherously and sent Naruto a mental image of what would happen if Galatea's top were to get ripped from the opening on her chest, revealing her generous breasts.

 _'Fuck off with this kind of things right now, you horny fuck! Find a safe place for my sister to hide and come to my help as fast as possible. I'm in deep shit this time, Kurama.'_

When he finished his mental conversation with the Kyuubi, he noticed Galatea's current state.

Tears still falling from her eyes, the Kryptonian said:

"You are right...that bastard did try to kill me. No worries, his death at my hands will not be easy. I'm going to enjoy every moment of his agonizing screams as I peel off his skin and melt his bones, one by one."

"But I will have to kill you first. I want to throw it in his face, in his last moments, that I am powerful, that even if I was always seen by him as nothing but a tool, I wasn't useless like he said."

Naruto listened to her words wide-eyed. Even he had not expected that what he told her that Orochimaru would do to her had already happened.

Galatea wiped her tears with the sleeve of her bloodied top and her demeanour became like steel again.

Before Naruto could react, the Kryptonian shouted and slapped her hands against each other with the maximum strength she possessed, to the point where she nearly harmed herself.

When he was a child, Naruto got to watch a cartoon depicting Moses, a biblical character, parting the Red Sea with his staff...under his disbelieving eyes, the shockwave generated by Galatea's clap did not only that: it cut the frozen surface of the water and then parted the ocean below for a depth and length of hundreds of feet!

A large amount of chakra was expelled from his body again as he struggled to stop his body from falling into the abyss that had been opened beneath him, but then, a crimson red light filled his entire view. A heat beam also hundreds of feet wide was a shot at him!

 _Scene break_

More than a thousand feet below the surface of water, Naruto was laying almost unconscious. It was only the hellish pain he felt that was stopping him from losing it.

The skin of his torso and half of his face had been melted by the heat beam, revealing the thin, almost translucent blue bone membrane beneath. Had it not been for the Inner Bone Armour, his internal organs would have been melted along with his skin. He would have died.

Still, he was not having it easy. The salty water of the ocean was permeating his raw flesh, making him want to scream in agony. It was a pain beyond anything that he had ever felt until then in both of his lives! Feeling like he was going to lose his mind, blue bones suddenly burst from all over his body and continued to grow, wrapping themselves around his body until he looked like he was covered in what appeared to be a cocoon made of blue bones. He let out a shaky breath as the bones covered his raw flesh, preventing any further contact with the salty water of the ocean. However, his eyes had not lost their determination yet. Putting his fingers in a cross-shaped hand seal, Naruto cast his most familiar technique.

 _Scene break_

Galatea had been waiting for quite a while for Naruto to come out, but there was still no sign of him. She had not used her X-ray vision to see what was happening in the depths of the ocean because she was afraid of leaving herself exposed while she concentrated on finding him. Because although his lightning could no longer harm her, as he had proven her numerous times, his bones could cut through her flesh as if she was just a normal human.

But, as time continued to pass, she started growing impatient. Despite the dangers, she had to find out exactly what happened to her enemy. At the expense of leaving herself open to an attack from behind, she used X-Ray vision to see past the surface of the very turbulent ocean's water.

 _'He is not dead yet...damned cockroach!'_

Just as she cancelled her X-ray vision, her instincts began to scream at her to move out of the way!

But it was too late! The small flock of cranes that looked like it was just randomly passing by a few tens of feet away from her, suddenly burst into smoke, obscuring her vision...they had been Naruto's Shadow Clones, Henged into birds...and, when she activated her X-ray vision, she could not see past the smokescreen made by their mass-dispelling. The only thing she could see was something akin to a blue energy surrounding her from all around. It was the chakra of the dispelled clones, that was now in the process of returning to the original. But the time it took for the clones' chakra to return to Naruto, those mere 2 seconds were just enough for him!

 _'If your X-ray vision is anything like the Byakugan, then you're fucked!'_ Naruto thought as he also dispelled the Henge that he had used to disguise himself, revealing his horrifying appearance after the heat beam hit him. He could have taken his time to heal himself with his chakra, but that way he would have not managed to create this opportunity at ending the fight.

That said, the moment his crane-henge was dispelled, he immediately aimed with the five fingers of his left hand at her. The skin from the top of his fingers burst open and 5 small, seemingly insignificant bone projectiles were shot a speed beyond what the naked eye could see.

A grunt of pain came from Galatea.

When the smokescreen disappeared, although there were 5 bleeding wounds on her body, the superclone smiled mockingly.

"Don't tell me...was that, perhaps, your trump card?"

"Haha...kind of." Naruto said, feigning ignorance to her mockery. "Any last words before you die?"

At that, Galatea actually started to giggle.

"Has my heat beams melted your brain or something? I'm completely unha-"

Her voice died in her throat as Naruto made a one-handed ram seal and said:

"Burst!"

From one the bone projectiles that hit Galatea in the right shoulder, spike-like blue bones suddenly burst, skewering her entire shoulder and the upper part of her arm... the pain had been so unexpected and so intense that Galatea lost control of her flight and fell into the water, painting it with the large amount of blood that was flowing from all the places where the spike like bones pierced her.

Shaking and trembling, she rose back in the air, looking at Naruto with an expression of shock in her eyes.

The one in question, despite his own agonizing pain caused by having had the skin of his torso, arms and half of his face melted, was standing in mid air, flying, looking at her calmly.

"There are 4 more of this in you body: 1 in your left leg, 1 in your stomach, 1 near your liver and 1 close to your heart."

"Which part of your body do you want me to skewer next?"

Galatea merely grit her teeth in frustration. She felt tears welling up her eyes again. She had never cried as much as she did in the last 3-4 days. She had never gone through such a rollercoaster of extreme emotions. And now, she was one step away from being killed, that even despite having had the upper hand against her enemy for most of the fight.

Naruto noticed her tears. But he did not mock her this time. Galatea proved to be an extremely powerful fighter. In his mind, she ranked as the 4th most powerful fighter that he had ever seen, only below Uchiha Madara, Might Guy with all of his 8 Inner Gates released and Uchiha Sasuke after his Mangekyo Sharingan had evolved into a Rinnegan. Because of that, in that moment, he held nothing but respect for her. It was the respect one can only earn even from an enemy due to their ability, their strength. Thanks to that, when he spoke to her, without noticing it himself, his voice was almost gentle.

"You are frustrated...and it's understandable. There are only 2 reasons behind me snatching the victory. The first is that I knew of your abilities while you did not know about my trump cards. The second is that I have decades of fighting experience more than you do. Had it not been for that, I would have most likely lost. Because you are powerful."

Galatea looked into Naruto's eyes as he spoke, not understanding why was he speaking to her in that gentle tone. What was he trying to do? What was his purpose? He was going to kill her any moment then, anyway, what was the point of trying to console her? Even so, she didn't snap at him with a snarky remark. Inwardly, she was secretly touched at a person as powerful as Naruto acknowledging her worth.

"You remind me a lot of my first really powerful enemy. His name was Haku." Naruto said after a small pause.

"He outclassed me and my partners in every way. But despite how powerful he was, he had never seen himself in a way different than that of a tool. When we somehow managed to scrap a win against him, he simply resigned himself to dying, asking us to kill him. Because, in his words, if he could not win against us, he became a useless tool for his master."

"In the end, Haku had thrown himself in front of his master, taking in his stead a killing blow that was supposed to take that man's life. He died."

Naruto stood silent for a few moments, but his eyes never left Galatea's, the two of them not breaking their eye-contact.

"I don't know what Orochimaru did and said to you."

"However, before leaving this life, I want you to know this: you were not a failure. You were not weak, nor were you useless."

"You're the most powerful opponent I have ever fought against in this life."

Then, whispering to himself, he added at the end:

"Had the circumstances been different, maybe we could have been even friends, or rivals... I'm sorry."

However, unbeknownst to him, thanks to her superhearing, Galatea heard him.

Naruto brought both of his hands into a ram seal, preparing to make the other 4 bone projectiles burst and skewer Galatea's body from inside out...but then, his two chakra hearts throbbed, warning him of the 14 powerful life signatures approaching him.

And Naruto was not the only one who sensed them. With her enhanced eye-sight, Galatea also discovered them.

* * *

AN: The technique Naruto used to turn the fight around is similar to when Obito used Mokuton: Sashiki no Jutsu. It was that moment when he found that out that Rin was killed and he went on a rampage, killing all those Mist shinobi.

To imagine the effect of Naruto's technique better, re-watch the video when Obito throws wood projectiles that upon hitting his enemies, would burst, skewering them from inside out. The spikes from Naruto's bone projectiles didn't grow as much as those wood projectiles of Obito but the effect was very similar. It's fucking gruesome lol.

I hope you loved this chapter. I tried my best to make Naruto showcase his skill as a shinobi as well, not just that of a fighter. I hope that Galatea also displayed a badass performance. The next chapter will have equally badass fighting scenes.

Waiting for your reviews as eagerly as always.

 _(No beta and I'm not an English native either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	31. Chapter 31 - Annihilation

AN:

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 31 – Annihilation**

"Why are we not following them?" the Flash asked. He didn't like just floating in one place above the ocean because that way he had to be carried since he didn't have the ability to fly.

John Stewart, who was carrying him with his green power ring, explained:

"Why would we? Is it not much better to just let those two criminals tire each other out before we jump in and take them both in one swoop?"

Shazam asked Doctor Fate:

"Would it be possible for you to cast a spell that will let us witness their fight?"

"Of course." the sorcerer said and as he waved his hands, a yellow light simmered in the air before taking form of a circular screen, showing what was happening tens of miles away from them.

As they watched the two god-like metahumans, many of them became inwardly worried. Even Superman himself clenched his fists when he witnessed how the clone of his younger cousin split the ocean for hundreds of feet just with a clap of her hands. The gigantic heat beam that she fired right after that only convinced him even further of how much powerful than him was the clone.

But when Naruto appeared from the flock of birds and the League members saw his appearance they were appalled.

"H-How is he even alive after that?!" Zatanna cried out.

With the entire skin of his torso, arms and half of his face melted, Naruto truly looked horrifying, like a monster out of a nightmare.

"It's time for us to intervene." Superman said right after he saw Naruto's bone projectile skewering Galatea's shoulder. "You have seen with your own eyes what these two are capable of. Even if they appear as though they are on their last legs now, do not underestimate them."

And with that, Superman and Shazam took the lead in front of the group, starting to fly at a great speed. But then, Superman suddenly stopped: he noticed Batman's airship turning around and flying back towards Gotham.

"Batman...what is the meaning of this?" Superman asked through their communication device.

Without stopping his airship, Batman replied:

"I am a man that knows his limits very well. The clone had casually split the ocean with a mere clap of her hands. Me trying to fight her while I'm piloting an aircraft above the ocean would be just suicide. I will be just a liability for you."

As he left, his voice sounded in everyone's earpieces:

"Zatanna, Steel...you should fall back as well...I don't like saying it, but this is not a fight people like us can fight. Not in these conditions. Not in the middle of the ocean."

"Flash, you should retreat as well. I know you can run on water but you've seen with your own eyes what had happened."

The other members of the Justice League remained silent at Batman's words.

"Batman is right." Superman said eventually, much to their surprise. "There is no need for you to throw your life away. Nobody will think bad of you if-"

"Stop yapping cuz I'm not leaving, big guy." Flash said before Superman could finish his words and Steel said the same:

"I came here knowing that my life was at risk. I am not going to leave now."

Zatanna wanted to follow up as well but Doctor Fate shook his head at her. The beautiful magician bit her lower lip in helplessness but decided to listen to Batman's and Doctor Fate's advice.

Batman sighed. There were times when one had to retreat and there were times when one had to attack. In his opinion, Flash was just being foolish: the ocean was going to be way too turbulent from the shockwaves generated by the fight...he thought that, in the end, Flash would end up needing to be saved, becoming a burden for the team.

"At least Zatanna will be safe." He murmured to himself after being informed that Doctor Fate teleported her away. Zatanna had been his friend since they were children. It was only normal that he cared about her more than about others.

 _Scene break_

Naruto brought both of his hands into a ram seal, preparing to make the other 4 bone projectiles burst and skewer Galatea's body from inside out...but then, his two chakra hearts throbbed, warning him of the dozen of powerful life signatures approaching him.

And Naruto was not the only one who sensed them. With her enhanced eye-sight, Galatea also discovered them.

"Don't kill me." Galatea suddenly said.

Naruto looked at her rather surprised. Naturally, nobody wanted to die. However, he had not expected for her to beg for mercy. She didn't strike him as the kind of person that would beg for her life.

"There are 12 of them. In your current state you won't have a chance against so many." she elaborated "I will help you...if you spare my life, I will help you stay alive. We both get to live. It's a win-win situation."

Naruto pondered at her words. Certainly, it could be said that right now he was half-dead because of how grave his injuries were. Galatea's words were not wrong. However...

"How can I be sure that you won't stab me in the back and escape alone, leaving me to die?"

"Why should I trust you?" Naruto asked, his eyes meeting hers as though he was trying to look into her soul.

"Because you don't have a choice." Galatea said, her eyes not shying away from his piercing gaze. "Alone, you will die. But together, we might stand a chance. Even in our current condition."

While they talked, the silhouettes of their pursuers appeared in their sight.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, huh?" Naruto muttered to himself.

Turning towards the downed Kryptonian he said calmly, in spite of how unrestrained was the killing intent that was pouring out of him:

"I will take you on your offer. But know this: if you betray me now, pray to whatever god you believe in that I won't survive... Because if I do, how the Joker died in my hands will be cute compared to what you're going to experience."

But she was not phased by his threats. Instead, she replied:

"Fair enough."

After Orochimaru betrayed her, there was probably nobody else in the world that hated traitors and backstabbers more than Galatea did. She actually completely agreed with Naruto's threats - because she would never betray someone. Not after experiencing it herself what being betrayed felt like.

"I'm going to have to touch you in order to remove the bones in your body...don't move. Don't give me one more reason to kill you." Naruto said in a rather menacing tone as he came close to her with his arm extended to touch her.

It was a very tense moment for Naruto:

' _What if she tries to take chance of this opportunity to grab a hold of me and attempt to finish me off?'_

Involuntarily, more bones protruded from his torso, in preparation for her possible retaliation.

Understanding his natural suspicion, Galatea wisely decided to not move a muscle.

Naruto placed a hand on the bone spikes that were skewering her shoulder and, soon enough, the crystal-like bones morphed into a blue liquid which started to get sucked into his palm. Naruto's bones were pure chakra solidified; that was the reason why it could cut through Kryptonians' flesh as though they were normal humans. And since they were pure chakra, manipulating them in that manner was an easy thing for Naruto.

A sigh of relief escaped past Galatea's lips when the deadly bones in her shoulder disappeared. Her newly acquired regeneration kicked in, healing what would be a grievous for anyone else in an instant.

Naruto inwardly cursed.

 _'Had my chakra not been a counter for her physiology, would I even stand a chance against her with that bullshit regeneration of hers?'_

He shook his head in dismay, but stopped thinking about it.

"There are 4 more bone projectiles that I need to extract. Please don't move so we can get over with this as soon as possible."

When Naruto's hand touched the exposed skin of her upper thigh, she realized just why Naruto told her for a second time to not move. She fought to hold back her face from flushing but it became a lost battle when she counted again the places where his projectiles hit her: her leg, her stomach, near the liver and...close to her heart.

One by one, Naruto extracted the bones from her body. And, despite her efforts, when his hand touched the place between her breasts to extract the last bone, Galatea's face flushed lightly.

Unlike Galatea whose regeneration ability had healed up her wounds in an instant, leaving her mind free to think about...interesting things while her body was being touched, Naruto was not having it as easy as her. Not in the least. In that moment, to him, it didn't matter that he was basically fondling one of the most beautiful women in world. The pain coming from all over his body was too agonizing. He could not think of anything else.

Finished with his task, Naruto turned away, and black lightning burst from all over his body. Unexpectedly, a feeling of relief washed over him, his agonizing pain diminishing to an almost negligible intensity. He had not expected his lightning to have that hidden perk.

Then, he cancelled his flight, letting himself land on the turbulent surface of the ocean - he was planning on using the water's properties to its fullest. Because, different from Galatea, his new enemies were not immune to his black lightning in the least.

"They are coming...don't hold back. Every time you will strike, do it at your maximum strength. Don't go easy on anyone. Kill them as fast as possible." Naruto said. "We can't afford a prolonged battle...at least, I cannot."

The 12 superheroes appeared at a few hundred feet away for them, scrutinizing them closely. Apparently, they were going over their plan one more time before attacking them.

Naruto took the chance to speak with Galatea as well:

"Let's kill the weaker links first. Do not attack Superman, Wonder Woman or Shazam. They are the hardest to deal with."

"Prioritize killing Red Tornado in an instant. That robot's ability to create tornados could be very troublesome here, above the ocean...After you finished him off try to eliminate either Hawkgirl or Hawkman. From the intel I've gathered about the Justice League a few years ago, these two are easier preys compared to the others."

"As for myself, I will try to kill Aquaman. The fishman will surely attack me because I'm not flying."

He gave her one last piece of advice:

"Be aware of Doctor Fate and Shazam. They are your most dangerous enemies at the moment because of their magic."

Galatea simply nodded. But, inwardly, she was examining his words, taking note of how fast he came up with the best course of action and the best way to distribute their roles.

 _'So this is what having more fighting experience means. His ability to strategize and make plans on spot is not something that can be acquired in a short period of time.'_

It was while Justice League was still keeping their distance that 5 great white sharks suddenly plunged from below the surface of the water, their terrifying jaws wide open to rip Naruto to shreds.

Naruto tsk-ed unimpressed. Stomping lightly with one of his feet on the surface of the water, the aura of black lightning that was surrounding him suddenly burst and expanded like a sphere, all around him, on a radius of 300 feet, electrocuting everything within.

A few moments later, a large amount of aquatic lifeforms - sharks, orcas and even a few sperm whales and colossal squids started to float on the surface of the ocean, each one of them with their bellies up - they were all dead. Killed by Naruto's black lightning.

Suddenly, before Naruto could react, a red blur flashed past him, punching him 3 times in very quick succession. His ribcage's bones thrust immediately after...only for Flash's body to become immaterial and immediately make a run for it.

"That was way too close for comfort..." Flashed gasped in slight panic at having been so close to being impaled. Had he not vibrated his molecules to phase through Naruto's attack, he would have been killed.

The Justice League's members were aware of 1 thing: if they were to get hit even once by Naruto, they would most likely die. Because of that, their strategy in dealing with him was to "hit and run". They planned on having many of them overwhelm him with guerrilla attacks, in a way that would make him not even know whom to attack first.

Just as Flash got away, Naruto felt his eyes getting cloudy and a skull-splitting headache assaulted him. With his red eyes glowing, Martian Manhunter had launched a telepathic attack against him. Naruto didn't have the chance to shake the telepathic attack off as a golden rope was suddenly wrapped around him, immobilizing him.

Then, as one, Hawkman and Aquaman, both plunged toward Naruto at the same time, the winged alien smashing his mace against his head and the Atlantis' King stabbing his magical trident into his chest.

Aquaman was just preparing to let out a victorious shout when Uzumaki Naruto that he had just stabbed in the heart exploded into a puff of smoke...but that was not all. A sudden shock of black lightning burst from the clone, electrocuting both him and the Thanagarian!

"Darn it, that's just how he got me last time!" Flash shouted and cursed when he saw the scene.

When Flash had tried to capture Naruto together with the Green Lantern after the Arkham Massacre, he was defeated in a similar manner - he had punched a clone of Naruto that exploded in his face. Only, this time around, Hawkman and Aquaman got to experience Naruto's Black Lightning Kage Bunshin.

While the ones from the side-lines were staring in surprise at the scene, with a shunshin, his hand encased in terrifying black lightning, Naruto suddenly appeared at an arm's length away from Red Tornado.

 _In the meantime_

With Galatea, unlike with Naruto who suddenly got sneak-attacked, the situation was much more tame.

Superman, Shazam, Steel and Hawkgirl were just flying around her in a circle, maintaining their distance, with Doctor Fate well outside of her range. From his hands, a purple light started to spread, transforming into a very large sphere that entrapped the 4 superheroes and Galatea within. The Justice League's plan in dealing with Supergirl's clone had been to keep her trapped and isolated just long enough for the rest of their teammates to deal with the already grievously injured Naruto.

But, in that moment, a certain incident made everyone stop and look in shock towards the place from where the agonizing screams came from: they looked just in time to see the charred and still twitching bodies of Hawkman and Aquaman sinking below the surface of the sea.

A powerful member of the Justice League and the mighty ruler of an ancient and magical civilisation had been killed in an instant, just like that!

Green Lantern who had stood to the side, with the role of launching protecting barriers with his power ring for the teammates that were in mortal danger had not been fast enough to stop their deaths. And the merciless god of slaughter was not finished yet...Green Lantern, once again, was not fast enough to stop Uzumaki Naruto who, under everyone's disbelieving eyes, teleported right next to an unsuspecting Red Tornado, and shoved his black lightning encased arm, elbow deep into his chest. The intensity of the lightning was so powerful that the android exploded into pieces, its build unable to sustain the damage.

A slightly crazed laughter came from Naruto's throat.

"Three fuckers down... 9 more to go... Now come... You wanted to kill me, didn't you? Come at me!" he screamed.

With his skin melted, blood flowing from the entire torso and face and with blue bones protruding from all over his body, in that moment, Naruto looked like a savage creature...like the god of slaughter.

Still, despite his display of ferocity, Naruto was on his last legs. He was already gravely injured by Galatea's heat beams in their previous fight and continuously using his bone kekkei genkai and flying for short periods of time had taken a huge toll on his chakra pool. Moreover, when he made that Black Lightning clone, he had pumped it with a very large amount of chakra, to make sure that he killed his two attackers with it.

"YOU MURDERER!" Superman suddenly roared and, ignoring Galatea, he crazily plunged towards Naruto, forcing Doctor Fate to cancel the spell which entrapped them all with Galatea, lest he got seriously hurt. It was a very elaborate magical barrier that would seriously harm a Kryptonian.

But then...

 _*BOOM*_

An incredibly powerful shockwave almost deafened everyone at the scene and a very large depression was formed into the surface of the water – Galatea had suddenly cut into Superman's way, and let out a battle cry as she threw a powerful kick at his face, using, just as Naruto told her, the entire strength she was capable of. The Man of Steel was hurled by the kick like a rocket, with blood and even a few teeth bursting from his mouth!

"Superman!" Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern cried out in shock at the same time. They all had known that Supergirl's clone was supposedly more powerful than Superman but what they had just witnessed was nothing short of shocking for them! Not even Darkseid, their most terrifying enemy to date had been capable of such a ridiculous feat!

Galatea was suddenly forced to raise her hands to defend herself as Wonder Woman flew at her, also kicking with all of her strength. The princess of the Amazons was not done yet: vicious punches started to rain on the Kryptonian's face with no restraint!

But, after a few moments, Wonder Woman winced in pain when one of her fist was caught in a vice-like grip.

"You know, if you tried harder, you could actually make me feel some discomfort." Galatea said with a sarcastic grin, Wonder Woman's previous onslaught seemingly having no effect whatsoever on her.

The blonde smashed her forehead into the nose of the Amazon, making her stumble back in pain. Then, grabbing her by the shoulders, Galatea kneeled her in the stomach and, when Wonder Woman was forced to bend by the strength behind the blow, Galatea slammed both of her fists into her back, making her crash into the water that, from the height they were at, would be as hard as concrete at the impact.

At the same time, a very large wave of hellfire came from Doctor Fate, only for Galatea to counter it back with a freezing breath. Green Lantern followed up with a rocket-like construct, but with another shockwave-genersting punch, she smashed the construct to pieces as though it was glass.

Shazam was just about to jump into the fight as well when, by pure luck, he bent down his head, narrowly avoiding what would have been his decapitation by a mere few inches!

With a long, black lightning encased bone sword in his hand Naruto was looking at Shazam, pure, undisguised killing intent flickering in his eyes.

"Do you remember me, from almost 3 years ago? When you called the lightning down on me to kill me?"

Naruto pointed his sword at him:

"Today, I'm going to return the debt...Today, I will give you a taste of my lightning."

 _Scene break_

The entire scene from the moment the Justice League started their assault until the three members were killed did not take long - not even half a minute. But through it all, Flash and Steel had just stood petrified in disbelief...that wasn't what they had expected when they "signed up" for the life as a hero... in but a few seconds, 3 Justice League members were killed and Superman and Wonder Woman were defeated, their survival unknown.

Green Lantern's shout suddenly reached their ears through the communication devices everyone was wearing:

"Wake up, damnit!"

As he fired a powerful blast of green light at the clone that was now also battling Hawkgirl and Doctor Fate, John Stewart continued in a grim voice:

"Batman was right: this was, from the beginning, not something that the Justice League could handle..."

"Flash, Steel, recover Wonder Woman's body and find out if she is alive. Then, retreat immediately."

"Shazam...I know I am asking a lot from you now, but please hold your own against Uzumaki for only a few minutes more."

"J'onn, try telepathically attack both Uzumaki and the clone when it looks like we cannot hold on against them anymore. Save your forces until then, to hit them at full strength."

"Doctor Fate, Hawkgirl, we have to hold on against the clone. If we manage to do it for even only a few minutes, our sacrifices won't be in vain!"

John Stewart, a former soldier, had a completely different mind-set than that of Superman. Unlike the Man of Steel who wanted to nobody to ever get hurt, John Stewart was different. He knew that sometimes, sacrifices had to be made. It was part of being a soldier. It was part of being a Green Lantern. And, in that moment, he resolved himself to lay his life down just in order to buy another few minutes.

Distancing a bit from the ongoing fight, Green Lantern brought his power ring closer to his mouth and spoke:

"Green Lantern, John Stewart, requesting help from all the free Green Lanterns close to Space Sector 2814, on Planet Earth, as soon as possible."

"I repeat, Green Lantern, John Stewart, requesting help from all the free Green Lanterns close to Space Sector 2814, on Planet Earth, as soon as possible."

Then, lifting his hand up, a bright green jet of light was shot from his ring, towards the sky. It was a distress signal.

* * *

AN: fortunately, you do not know my address, otherwise I'll be afraid of attempts on my life by now with all these cliffhangers lol

Hope you liked this chapter. I think you realize just what exactly is coming in the next chapter huehue. I promise more awesomeness incoming. Till next time :)

 _(No beta and I'm not an English native either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	32. Chapter 32 - Inner Turmoil

AN:

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 32 - Inner turmoil**

 _"Shazam...I know I am asking a lot from you now, but please hold your own against Uzumaki for only a few minutes more."_

The one in question, however, was not feeling as confident in his own ability to deal with Uzumaki Naruto as the Green Lantern was.

"Come at me, Shazam...entertain me for a while before I kill you."

Naruto was grinning but, because of how horribly burnt was the skin on his face, it only made him look even more terrifying. Pressing with the sole of his feet against the water, he abruptly plunged towards the caped superhero and slashed his crystal-like bone sword in a wide arc.

Shazam retreated, hastily dodging the deadly slash.

"Oi, oi...where are you running? Have you forgotten how cocky and how confident in your abilities you were 3 years ago? You even let me hit you once, on purpose."

Through it all, Shazam kept his silence, looking at Naruto's black-lightning encased sword warily. Naruto was not aware of it but Shazam, despite being a lightning user himself, was actually quite vulnerable against lightning based attacks. It was a paradox, but nonetheless, it was one of his very few and quite unknown weaknesses.

"Not even speaking? What happened to you during these past few years? Huh?"

"Did your balls drop off?"

Naruto was taunting him because he could not follow Shazam around. Shazam was said to have the speed of Hermes, the Messenger of the Olympian Gods. Shazam was almost as fast as the Flash and he could also fly to boot. Even if Naruto were to be at his full strength, he would have no hope to catch Shazam if he wanted to escape.

"Then, if you don't want to fight me...I guess I'll just have to go and kill your teammates instead!"

With a lightning-based shunshin, Naruto's silhouette blurred out of existence, only to reappear a few feet away from Doctor Fate who was wildly releasing purple waves of magic in all the directions. He was doing it in a desperate attempt to ward off Galatea's relentless attacks - the waves of magic he was releasing were corroding everything they came in contact and Galatea got to feel it on her own skin if the burnt marks on her arms were anything to go by.

Naruto did not have enough chakra anymore to sustain his flight so, after teleporting there, he started to fall down towards the ocean. However, while falling from the position where he had shunshined, he swung his bone sword with both of his hands in a vertical motion. His teleportation and attack were so unexpected that it was only the great wizard's supernatural instinct that had saved him from death. Even so, the arc of black lightning that was shot from Naruto's swing of the sword was so powerful that when it collided against Doctor Fate's shielding spell, although it didn't break it, the wizard was violently propelled backwards and crashed into the water below. Just as he landed on the ocean's surface, Naruto started to sprint towards Doctor Fate, immense waves raising on the sides, in his passing. He was hoping to get to Doctor Fate before he could rise again into the air.

 _'The clone really seems to be unable to deal with powerful magic users. But, if I can finish off this guy, the fight will be over. The lantern, the winged chick and that coward won't stand a chance.'_ Naruto thought.

It was then that Green Lantern yelled at Shazam:

"For god's sake, what are you doing, Shazam?!"

John Stewart's shout was like a wake up call for Shazam. Naruto's killing intent and his powerful momentum had momentarily thrown him into a state of fear, bordering panic. Shazam may have the appearance of a wise and very powerful superhero but, inwardly, he was only a child. His will, his mentality had not been powerful enough withstand the pressure brought forth by someone as terrible as Uzumaki Naruto, even in spite of having been blessed with the Courage of Achilles. Utilizing Hermes' speed, Shazam abruptly launched himself towards Naruto, just as he was about to bring his bone sword down, to cleave Doctor Fate's body in half.

Naruto's eyes suddenly became slit and then, the pupils enlarged in a similar way to that of a cat in darkness. The world around him slowed down to such a degree that it almost felt like time stopped.

The effect of his Doujutsu only lasted for an instant...however, that instant was enough!

Letting go of the bone sword in his hand, Naruto appeared to have abruptly turned back. His lightning encased fist suddenly punched forward, colliding against Shazam's chest who had not been able to react in time and stop his flight.

A sound akin to that of thunder was heard and the water below Naruto's feet parted on a radius of 200 hundred feet around! It was the very first attack that Naruto had ever created by using his Black Lightning Release. He had trained it on the Prison Island for two years, demolishing in the process all the cliffs over the entire island. That said, the collision and the explosion generated by the release of his black lightning through his fist was so powerful that Shazam was shot backwards like a bomb out of a cannon.

And Naruto was not one to let that such a chance slip past him. With the last drop of chakra he possessed, he cast a final Shunshin, teleporting himself at a great distance, right in the way where Shazam's body had been blasted to, catching the superhero in a vicious chokehold...which proved to be the proverbial last drop that spilled the entire glass. Unable to hold on against the assault anymore, Shazam's magic faded from him, his muscular body reverting its true form. That of an ordinary 10 year old boy.

"Now who would have thought that!" Naruto said in genuine surprise. Captain Marvel being an actual child was not something known by the public. And Naruto had not known about it either.

Still, despite Shazam proving to be a mere boy, Naruto's chokehold did not lessen at all.

At that moment, a strange moment of stillness appeared on the battlefield, everyone turning their eyes towards Naruto, who was holding the little boy in the air, by the neck.

Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and Doctor Fate flew next to each other and Galatea came closer to Naruto.

"Uzumaki...he is but a boy! Are you black-hearted enough to kill even innocent kids now!" John Stewart shouted in anger.

Naruto stopped. He looked as though he was petrified. However, it wasn't because of John Stewart's words. It was because, while exhausted to the limit, his two chakra hearts still warned him of the powerful incoming life signatures. Not a moment later, the sky was lighted by a green radiance and, one by one, various silhouettes coated in a green light and wearing the same uniform as John Stewart started to descend. They were Green Lanterns. Over 2 dozens of them.

The newly arrived Green Lanterns also raised up their hands, aiming their power rings at him, looking like they were preparing to blast him to pieces. One of them, a purple-skinned woman with crimson red hair tied in a ponytail and ears similar to those of an elf spoke to John Stewart in an authoritative manner:

"You called so many of us here...what is this all about?"

John Stewart knew better than to try to be a smartass in that situation:

"These two...they defeated the Justice League's elites. They are merciless killers. Three of us had been murdered already, with 2 not knowing whether they are still alive or not."

The purple-skinned woman's eyes narrowed at him dangerously.

"John Stewart...the Green Lantern Corps' main purpose is to deal with galactic threats. Beings that threaten the safety of the Universe or at least of an entire planet...you don't just call nearly 30 Green Lanterns from light years away to deal with a mere squabble!" she said sternly.

"I would have fallen at their hands too soon if you hadn't shown up!" John Stewart retorted.

Laira Omoto, a Green Lantern seen by everyone as one of the elites of the entire Corps, becoming greatly respected by her fellow lanterns, close to the same level as Sinestro, Kilowog or Saalak, after they found out about her exploits on her mother planet and her dedication for the Corpse. (1)

That said, when she spoke the words: _"This is not over."_ , John Stewart knew that she would make sure that the Guardians themselves would find out about this incident.

Leaving those last words to John Stewart, Laira Omoto turned to Naruto:

"For your own good, human, put the child down."

Naruto glared at the newly arrived beings and cursed vehemently.

 _'That bastard must've called for backup...fucking piece of shit!'_

It was then that Doctor Fate also spoke, his tone, however, more polite and kinder:

"Uzumaki, I know you are angry. But he is only a kid. And there are some lines that one should simply not cross. Just turn yourself in...these are the Green Lantern Corps, the protectors of the Universe. They won't treat you unfairly."

Naruto's response was to spit down.

"Protectors of the Universe? To hell with all! You think I give a shit?"

Then, a burst of hollow laughter came out of his mouth:

"And this is only a kid?"

He laughed again, in the same, emotionless manner.

"A kid that could level an entire city if he were to wish it. A kid that can call down the lightning from the skies to strike one down...A kid that tried to kill me twice."

"Only a kid? So what?"

Raising Billy Baston a bit higher in the air, Naruto strengthened his grip onto his frail neck.

"If someone tries to kill me or harm my family...do you think that I'll just give them a pat on the back?

"Be it a man, be it a woman, be it a kid, be it elders, be it a priest, be it a nun, be it the president of the United States...be it even a god...none of that matter to me! And none shall be spared. I'll fucking kill every last one of them!" Naruto screamed and then, his left hand sliced through the boy's neck, His head fell into the water, painting it crimson with blood. He had decapitated him.

Hawkgirl and John Stweart cried out in disbelief. Doctor fate was shocked silent.

"You...you killed him...you really killed him!" John Stewart screamed and a concentrated blast of green light was shot from his ring. As if that had been a signal, 2 of the newly arrived Green Lanterns also jumped into the fray, plunging towards Naruto, one with a gigantic construct in the shape of a hammer, the other one hurling a construct similar to a sharp disc, rotating at a high velocity.

More of the Green Lanterns were about to throw themselves into the fight, but they suddenly halted in their tracks when they saw how John Stewart's full-powered blast of green light was simply slapped to the side by the blonde woman flying at Naruto's side. Then, before the other two Green Lanterns could understand what was happening, they both found themselves flying backwards at a very high speed, unable to breathe. A fist and a kick dent were imprinted in their stomach.

In the meantime, Naruto formed a one-handed ram seal. The mental link he was trying to establish with Kyuubi was done right away, sign that the fox was getting closer to him.

 _"Kurama, I have somet-"_

 _ **"I sensed their appearance, Naruto."**_ Kyuubi cut his words right away. _**"And don't try to tell me now to run away and take care of your sister... Don't give me the "last words" type of bullshit!"**_

Naruto didn't reply immediately.

 _"Then, if you come here, what will you do? Now, there are 30 Green Lanterns here. 31 together with the hardass. You being here won't change the outcome at this point of the game. You will die or get captured. It's all in vain."_

Kyuubi growled. But he didn't retort. In his mind, a fierce struggle was occurring.

 _'I used to be a bijuu...a towering 9 tailed demon fox...a force of nature...Tsunami were raised with a mere flap of my tails and the land itself quaked under my rage...'_

 _'In this life, I am free...'_

 _'But, is it worth it? What have I become?'_

In his mind, a memory from the Prison Island played - the one when the Heavenly Tribulation struck. Back then, Naruto told him to run.

Then, when Supergirl's clone attacked, Naruto once again told him to run away.

And now, Naruto wanted to tell him the same thing - to run away; that he would be of no use if he were to come.

 _'Kuso gaki... in the past, how many times have I saved your ass from death?'_

In his past life, Kyuubi had never outwardly shown it but, secretly, there was a certain feeling of pride at always having been the one on whom Naruto depended on in his darkest moments. In the current life, however...

 _'I have become so weak...so unreliable...'_

Kyuubi gnashed his teeth.

 _'What use is for me to be free if I am useless?'_

Kyuubi no Kitsune, a demon. Kyuubi no Kitsune, a being that used to be the embodiment of rage and hatred... the being that previously would have done everything in his power to regain his freedom... Now, that demon fox realized that, unknowingly, he had changed. Freedom was not what he treasured the most anymore.

' _Damn it! Damn it!'_

He didn't like being just an extra. He didn't like being weak! Kyuubi hated...not being needed. Although he had never admitted it to himself, he craved Naruto's friendship. Naruto was the only human after the Sage of the Six Paths that acknowledged him as a person. In a dark and neglected corner of his mind existed a fear that one day, when Naruto would not need him anymore, he would cast him away. Leave him alone.

Kyuubi finally let go of his past obsession. In his mind, his priorities were set straight. Focusing back on his mental link with Naruto, he said"

 _ **"Naruto..."**_

 _ **"Summon me!"**_

 _"...are you sure, Kurama?"_ Naruto asked quietly.

For one last time, hesitation crept at Kyuubi. In that moment, the demon asked himself honestly once again:

 _'What is more important for me? My freedom? Or Naruto?'_

Kyuubi swallowed the node in his neck.

 _ **"I'm sure."**_ He transmitted.

At his answer, Kyuubi could feel the emotions Naruto's was feeling.

 _"...you've done so much for me, Kurama... I-"_

 _ **"Just get on with it, for fuck's sake! Don't go all teary-eyed on me, shitty bastard!"**_

Kyuubi's colourful words were only his way of trying to hide his inner turmoil. The demon fox had never been comfortable with expressing what he felt.

 _Scene Break_

"Uzumaki, how are you planning on dealing with all of them?" Galatea asked after pushing back the two Green Lanterns that had taken the initiative to attack.

She was confident in herself. She knew that if she were to flee, none of the Green Lanterns gathered there would be able to stop her. She also reckoned that even if she were to fight to death against the whole 31 of them, even in her weakened state...she was confident in killing them all before giving her last breath!

But Galatea was not alone. She also had to take count of the grievously injured Naruto. Because she had given him her word: _"I will help you...if you spare my life, I will help you stay alive."._ Until she saw them both out of this mess, she would never betray him.

Naruto, who seemed to be a bit distracted even despite their currently quite dire situation, looked at the sky. Quite a few clouds were floating peacefully but it was clear that there were no real chances to rain, let alone a storm to happen.

Turning towards her, he suddenly asked:

"What's your name?"

Although thrown off by his random question and also inwardly annoyed at him not even knowing her name, she answered:

"Galatea. My name is Galatea."

Naruto gazed deep into her eyes:

"Galatea...will you trust me with your life?"

Naruto himself knew that it was an outrageous question - only a few minutes before, the two of them had been trying to kill each other. The circumstances, however, led to the two of them becoming allies. And now, their survival depended on whether they chose to fully trust the other or not. And Galatea understood that. A reluctant nod was the only answer Naruto got to his question.

"Can you fire one more heat beam, as deadly as the one with which you tried to kill me before?"

Galatea narrowed her eyes at him.

"I can. But that requires a great deal of energy. I would be too exhausted to even fly after that."

As she said that, she understood why Naruto asked if she trusted him with her life - because if she were to do as he said, she would be rendered a helpless lamb in front of their enemies should Naruto decide to ditch her and run away to safety, by himself, after that.

In the end, Galatea thought of how Naruto had had her life in his hands...he could have just killed her. Yet, at her plea, he decided to trust her, all the while knowing that there was a risk of her going back against her words and try to kill him. His actions basically told her that, while they were allies, he trusted her. She felt rather ashamed of how she had been hesitant, despite him being the one to make the first step. Reaching that conclusion, she added:

"I will do as you say, Uzumaki... But don't betray me. The threats you made - I'm throwing them back at you."

Naruto would have wanted to make a solemn oath to assure her of his sincerity but the situation didn't allow him that. Getting over their initial surprise at Galatea's show of strength, the Green Lanterns formulated an action plan and now, they were starting to make a move again.

"Use your heat beams to vaporize as much of the ocean's water as you can."

Galatea's reaction to his absurd request was worth filming.

"I ain't crazy. Trust me this once and you'll have the opportunity to see things you've never even imagined to be possible! Things that nobody on Earth has ever seen in their entire lives!"

Although anxious, the Kryptonian was taught since her first days of life to never be indecisive. Since she decided to trust him, she would trust him until the end.

Galatea flew higher and aimed at the group of Green Lanterns. Their entire field of view was suddenly engulfed by a crimson red light. Most of the lanterns managed to scamper out of the way in time but 3 of them were not so lucky. Galatea's enormous rays of deadly heat vaporized their bodies before they even knew what was happening...even their power rings were destroyed! The heat beam continued on his trajectory, and steam suddenly filled the entire area of over 2 miles around them. It was so dense that nothing could be seen even 3 feet in front of one's eyes.

However, Naruto could sense Galatea's chakra signature. He could also _'see'_ how weakened she became and how she was rapidly approaching the surface of the water.

 _'She's lost her flight ability.'_

Completely emptied of the solar radiation that her body had unknowingly stored during her admittedly short life, Galatea was now not much different than an ordinary young woman in her early 20s. Falling from that height into the water would kill her.

While Naruto was not aware of the secret behind the Kryptonians' god-like bodies and abilities, he did start to dash towards her falling body - his intention was to not let her drown. Because, Kryptonian or not, Galatea would drown if she were to fall into the water unconscious. He jumped and caught her safely in his arms.

While she had become dizzy from using all her energy to fire the heat beam, after Naruto caught her, she got a hold of herself.

"I did as you asked." Galatea said, but she made no sign of wanting to hop down from Naruto's arms. She was feeling too weak. Never before in her life had she experience the feeling of being a normal human. It was like she didn't have enough strength to even lift her arm.

"Thank you. You will not be disappointed." Naruto said, forcing his voice not tremble. The skin all over his arms and torso had been melted. A mere brush against his raw flesh would be enough to cause him unspeakable pain. What he was feeling while holding the blonde woman in his arms was pure agony.

"...you are in pain." Galatea stated. It was then that she finally truly realized that the wetness she felt from his body was not seawater but blood...

"No, it's just an illusion. I actually like the feeling of having my skin melted and then submerging myself in seawater. Thank you!" said Naruto, a curse at the tip of his tongue.

"I'm not sorry."

At her shamelessness, he couldn't hold himself back anymore and yelled:

"Fuck you, bitch! You want me to throw you and leave your sorry ass to drown?"

A rather smug smile appeared on Galatea's face:

"It's impossible for me to drown. My body won't sink into the water...not with these two big babies around."

Naruto's eyes involuntarily were drawn to her large breasts. When he met her eyes in the next moment, he actually found a good side of having the skin of his face melted - he could not blush anymore.

The steam was starting to disperse and Naruto looked towards the sky. A dense blanket of black clouds was now covering it, making the light outside dim until it became a semi-darkness.

All of a sudden, a blinding white light illuminated everything and a moment later, a powerful sound of thunder boomed.

"It's time for us to test that theory - let's see if your tits can really make you float on the water."

Although his words were sarcastic, he knelt on the water and let Galatea's body sink in gently.

"Try to hold your breath for as long as you can."

By then, the steam completely disappeared. The Green Lanterns were all looking at the sky cautiously - none of them was dumb. They could feel that something unnatural was about to happen.

A roar was suddenly heard and the enormous head of an immense dragon-like lightning beast peaked from amongst the clouds. It was a Kirin! Shivers went down everyone's spine. The leader of the lantern did not even have to tell them what to do as they all instinctively joined forces in creating the toughest barrier they were capable of.

However, under their incredulous gazes, Naruto abruptly jumped in the air. It was when he reached the maximum height in the air that the lightning dragon roared once more and launched itself at Naruto!

Naruto's exhausted chakra hearts shivered in delight as the incredibly powerful energy that flooded them. The agonizing pain coming from all over his body also dulled when the lightning coated him. However, soon enough, his dantian and his meridians were all filled with chakra to the brim. He felt as though his body was going to burst any moment then. He started to fly, expelling large amounts of chakra, trying that way to lessen the burden on his body. Simultaneously, a shadow clone popped up, and dived downwards to retrieve Galatea - only a few seconds passed since he had told her to hold her breath.

As he flew above the ocean, Naruto took a moment to relish in what he was about to do. Then, he deliberately went slowly through the following set of hand seals - he wanted to fully savour that moment: _boar - dog - bird - monkey - ram._

Placing his bleeding palm down, the air was suddenly filled with black fuinjutsu-like symbols. It was not necessary for him to shout, but he really wanted to:

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu: KYUUBI!"

A dense white smoke engulfed a large portion of the sky, obscuring everyone's sight for a second time.

While the Green Lanterns were wondering what was supposed to happen next, enormous waves were raised as a titanic body suddenly collided against the surface of the water! A roar like that of a primordial beast shook the atmosphere and the ocean's surface was stirred like by a hurricane. The smoke was blasted away and then, the Green Lanterns could finally see it... a colossal beast of over 160 feet in height! It was crimson red and 9 enormous tails were slowly flailing behind it.

For a few long moments, the Green Lanterns were stunned. It was only the simultaneous call that every one of them received on their power rings, at the same time, that woke them up from their stupor:

 _"Oa is under attack. All Green Lanterns are to come to defend against Sinestro Corps' invasion!"_

* * *

 **AN1** : What happens to the Green Lanterns from now on will follow the canon events of "The Sinestro Corps War", just in case you are curious since the fic does not focus on their adventures.

 **AN2: [Explanation]**

Ever since Kyuubi got a body, Naruto could no longer transfer his chakra to him like when the fox was 'sealed' in him. Because of that, with the small reserves that he had, Kyuubi could increase his size only slightly, choosing most of the time to stay in a chibi-form to preserve his chakra (that, and he also loved Misaki's cuddles lol).

Kyuubi could return to the power he used to have in his past life by slowly storing up chakra. But, since he has no deep connection with the Earth, Kurama cannot gather chakra easily. Even the small amount he can gather is only thanks to having used an animal from Earth - a fox - as an anchor for his body. That said, the only way for him to rapidly get chakra given the circumstances was to become Naruto's summon. That way, through the contract, Naruto can freely transfer his chakra to him.

By answering to his summoning technique, the contract was formed, similar to how Madara had used to summon him in his past life. For the sake of helping Naruto, Kyuubi let himself become bound to someone's will (Naruto's) losing what had aspired for a long time – his freedom.

 **[Explanation ended]**

 _(No beta and I'm not an English native either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	33. Chapter 33 - The Hero We Need

AN:

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thinking

* * *

 **Chapter 33 - "The hero we need"**

"Did they leave just like that?" Kyuubi asked, his deep, demonic voice laced with incredulity.

The moment the Green Lanterns received the call from Oa, they turned around and left without even a moment of hesitation. And the most annoyed by the situation was none other than Kyuubi. He went all the way to even become Naruto's summon in order to save him...only for the Green Lanterns to suddenly retreat! Kyuubi and Naruto did not even know the reason for their sudden departure. Although not impossible, they thought it was a bit too far fetched for the corps to leave so abruptly only because they were intimidated by Kyuubi's colossal size.

Naruto let himself lay on top of Kyuubi's gigantic head. He didn't dislike this outcome at all. He was too exhausted and his body was all like an open wound. True, he had fully 'recharged' himself with chakra but he used all of that to summon Kyuubi and supplement him with the rest. His reserves were now once again at an all time low and that, added to his critical condition, made it so there was even a risk of him dying.

"Oi, Naruto. What about the clone?"

But the fox received no answer from him. He had fallen into a deep slumber.

Kyuubi sighed.

"Now I have to play the role of a nanny again."

His immense body began to shrink in size until he reached the size of an elephant and he grabbed Naruto and Galatea with his tails as he did so. Noticing that the blonde woman was conscious, he asked:

"You should have been dead. How are you alive, woman?"

Not receiving an immediate answer from her, Kyuubi continued, his fierce killing intent stirring the water's surface.

"I can sense lies and any other type of negative emotions. Answer me and do it truthfully if you hold your life dear."

To enforce his words, the tail that was holding her started to slowly increase its grip, making Galatea groan in pain – her body was no different than that of a regular Earthling in that moment.

"Had I not been so weakened, I'd wipe the ground with you!"

But when she felt her bone beginning to hurt, Galatea relented. Stubborn she may have been, but she was not stupid. Showing defiance in her current state was nothing but asking to die. She was at Kyuubi's mercy.

"A secret organisation took me after I was killed by my father."

"From what I remember, it was the brat that killed you, not that slimy bastard." Kyuubi interjected.

"I was still breathing after you left. It was the one that created me that also dealt the finishing blow."

Her voice was so bitter that Kyuubi didn't say anything immediately.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"They were calling themselves 'The League of Shadows'. I was submerged into a pool of green liquid - not only my body had become fully healed, but I have also become immune to lightning. That liquid made my body adapt to the still lingering residues of Uzumaki's lightning in my wounds."

Kyuubi has not heard about the League of Shadows until then. He wanted to find out more and he decided that he would bully Rupert into digging out information about them - after all, an organisation capable of bringing people back to life was not something that could be ignored.

 _'It reminds me of the damned Edo Tensei...still, what this organization did to the clone is obviously superior. Not only was she brought back in her natural body, she became even stronger.'_

Turning his attention back to Galatea, Kyuubi asked:

"What happened while I was away? You seemed hell-bent on killing him. What made him save you from drowning a few moments ago?"

 _'The Naruto of the past was certainly prone to doing such a dumb thing like saving his mortal enemy, but not the present one.'_ Kyuubi mused.

And Kyuubi was right in his opinion of Naruto. Towards enemies, Naruto showed no mercy whatsoever. He didn't care whether their reasons for attacking him were vile or noble; he didn't care whether they were children or women or elderly; he didn't care about anything related to them. The Naruto of the present had one very simple policy: whoever tried to harm him or his family would get slaughtered. No mercy whatsoever. That's why Kyuubi didn't understand Naruto's actions this time.

"He fell in love with my looks."

"..."

"I've known Naruto since the very day he was born in this life. Never has he shown interest in any girl except for his sister." Kyuubi said plainly, making Galatea sigh.

"He defeated me. He was about to kill me when the Justice League showed up. But he was also grievously wounded...All the wounds you see on his body were made by me." she said, her voice not quite managing to hide the pride she felt at having been able to bring to that state someone as formidable as Naruto.

"We made a deal: I offered to protect him in exchange for letting me live. We worked together."

Kyuubi hmm-ed in thought at her words. But the explanation he received was satisfactory so he didn't stay idle anymore. He broke into a light sprint towards the shore - he was secretly worried about Misaki's safety and whereabouts.

 _'Naruto will rip me a new one if anything happened to her'_

 _'Though, I'd really like to see him try now that I'm back to my full power.'_ Kyuubi chuckled silently to himself.

In this world, from what Kyuubi knew, there was no Rinnegan and no Mangekyo Sharingan. There was no Mokuton specialist and no Uzumaki elite able to wield the Adamantine Sealing Chains. He had also become impossible to ever be sealed again due to his body having used the body of an animal as its anchor, a real fox.

It was only those 5 bloodline limits that had the chance to pose a threat to him. But since they did not exist, Kyuubi was now basking in the great feeling of knowing that he was once again at the top of the food chain. Because even the most powerful shinobi of his past life - Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju - would not stand a chance against him without their genjutsu or without their Mokuton.

But then, Kyuubi thought back to Naruto. Shikotsumyaku - Dead Bone Pulse. He had never thought that this kekkei genkai would become that powerful. And he had never imagined that Naruto would be able to reach that kind of mastery with a self-created ability, from scratch.

As he continued to run across the turbulent ocean, his mind went to two particular incidents from the past: first, on the Prison Island. Back then, Naruto had killed almost 200 metahumans, in an instant! Tree-sized bone spikes had burst from the ground causing a massacre. He reckoned that had the Justice League attacked him on the ground and had Naruto not cared about harming the innocents, he would have easily destroyed them.

The second memory that popped up in his mind was about the moment when Naruto lost his mind to rage when they attacked Orochimaru's secret base. Kyuubi had honestly been shocked to see him become something like a humanoid dragon. And that power he had possessed at that moment had been downright frightening - he had blown a hole through Galatea's Kryptonian body as if it was nothing.

At that moment, even him, the mighty Nine-Tailed Demon Fox had been terrified.

Kyuubi turned his attention back to the matter at hand, at the present situation - he wasn't quite sure what to do with Galatea. He had sensed that she did not lie to him and he knew that she held no ill intention against Naruto anymore but, even so, he didn't really know what to do with her.

 _'I guess I'll just have to wait for the brat to wake up and see.'_

 _Scene break_

"Kurama, w-what happened to him?!" Misaki cried out in panic when she saw Naruto's mutilated appearance.

Before starting to run towards Naruto, Kyuubi had left Misaki in a cinema. Of course, it wasn't the safest of the places, but, on the spot, he had not been able to think of a better solution.

It goes without saying that Misaki had not glanced even once at the screen to watch the movie, she had been too anxious about her brother's well being. Her intuition had been telling her that that time around, Naruto was in serious danger.

"Not here, Misaki." Kyuubi stopped her and grabbed her with one of his tails. "I'm attracting too many eyes here as it is."

And true, even after diminishing his size once again when he reached Gotham City, it was still not something normal to see a horse-sized nine-tailed fox strolling on the street while holding 3 people in its tails.

A few minutes later, Kurama arrived at the Monkey King's Dojo that was almost in shambles after Naruto's and Galatea's brief fight in it.

"Let's grab some money and all of Naruto's credit cards. We won't be able to live here for a while."

"What about onii-chan? We should go to a hospital right away!"

Kyuubi shook his head.

"What could the doctors do to a patient in his state? His skin had been completely melted off. Anyone else would have died after that."

"Now quit yapping and do as I said!"

"B-But-..." Misaki tried to say, as tears started to flow from her eyes.

Kyuubi sighed and berated himself in his mind.

 _'Looking at Naruto, I forgot that she's just an ordinary girl. Being suddenly attacked, having her home destroyed and suddenly seeing her brother arriving on the verge of death would not be easy on anyone.'_

Kyuubi wrapped one of his tails around her shoulders before saying in a gentle tone as to placate her:

"Look, your brother is very strong. He won't die from something like this. He had survived even worse things before."

But Kyuubi's words only made her cry even harder as she started to think of what other terrible things Naruto had experienced until then. What could be more terrible than his current condition?

While Kyuubi didn't know how to comfort the crying redhead, Galatea pulled at the fur of the tail that was holding her. Around half an hour passed since she had fired the large heat beam and since then, little by little, her body started to regain her strength as it continued to store the radiation from the sun.

"Put me down, fox. I can stand on my own now."

So overwhelmed by the situation she had been, that only then had Misaki finally taken notice of the blonde woman.

"W-Who is she, Kurama?" Misaki asked through her sobs.

Kurama hesitated.

 _'If I told her that she's the one that brought her brother in that condition, she would freak out.'_

 _'Sigh, as endearing as she might be sometimes, dealing with weaklings in this kind of situations is annoying as fuck.'_

He was saved by giving an answer as Galatea replied in his stead:

"I'm a friend. I helped him fight against his enemies."

It was only a half-truth but Misaki didn't question it - after all, Kyuubi would have not kept Galatea around had he thought that she was dangerous.

"Now, tell me where he is keeping his money."

Kyuubi narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't sense any malicious intent from her but he was still suspicious that she would try to just take the money and run.

"Are we going to stay like this all day?" Galatea asked impatiently.

"Who said you were coming with us?" Kyuubi growled.

Galatea frowned.

"I don't have anywhere else to go. And, for a while, I have to lay low. Until I rob a bank or blackmail some billionaire, I need to live somewhere."

Kyuubi nearly whistled at her mindset.

"Besides, right now, you need me just as much as I need you."

"As if. Of what help can you possibly be to us?" Kyuubi scoffed.

"You need to rent an apartment or book a room at a hotel. How will you do that? Will you send the paralyzed girl over there to do it by herself, or are you planning on carrying her around in Gotham like until now? Not even half an hour will pass before the news reports will show titles like 'A giant fox kidnapped a poor girl'. Then, some wannabe superheroes will pop up and you'll open another can of worms that you don't need to. Not in the current situation."

The fox didn't like to admit it, but Galatea had a point. In the end, although he didn't trust her that much, he caved in. After all, given Naruto's fortune, a few thousand of dollars - that's the amount he had at home in cash - was a negligible amount. Even if she were to run away with the money, it wouldn't be such a major loss.

 _Scene break_

It was a peaceful night of late December. The flickering light of the fireplace batted away the semi-darkness of the room, giving it a warm and cosy appearance. On the sofa located in front to the fireplace, a red-haired girl with whisker-like birthmarks on her cheeks was sleeping, her face scrunched into a frown. Her slumber was not peaceful, plagued with worries for her injured brother. Next to her, a nine-tailed fox cub appeared to be sleeping profusely, cute snoring sounds coming from it every so often. Laid on a futon next to the couch, Naruto was also immersed into a deep sleep, as his two chakra hearts were working on regenerating the melted skin on his face, arms and torso.

Only a few hours passed since the major incident that happened on top of the Atlantic Ocean.

Galatea had stayed true to her words and managed to book a room for a week at one of the more luxurious hotels of the city.

While the fox and the siblings were all sleeping next to the fireplace, she was sitting on the opposite side of the room, by the window, watching the snowflakes drifting slowly in the air.

 _'What am I going to do from now on?'_

She didn't have any goal set in stone. Sure, she wanted to kill Orochimaru for having betrayed her. But after that?

 _'My purpose has been, from the beginning, to become the ultimate warrior. To protect my so-called father... but now?'_

Galatea had never thought of anything else aside from that until then in her short life. Each day of her life had been filled only with training and fighting. She had no other dreams or aspirations. She did not know what else to do aside from that. Once Orochimaru betrayed her, it was as though her very reason to exist, disappeared. She was lost.

She went to her room. She did not even know why was she still staying with Uzumaki Naruto's family. Although they became allies, the fact that they had been enemies had not been changed. Not to mention that she was killed by him once and she nearly managed to kill him in revenge after that.

In spite of all that, at that moment, she felt closer to Naruto than to any other person on Earth. Because although he had defeated her and despite that they had been mortal enemies, he had acknowledged her worth. He had acknowledged her existence. After Orochimaru deemed her useless, Naruto had quenched her most burning inner desire - that of being recognized for her strength. He told her that she was not useless. That she was not a failure.

As she lay in bed, a lone tear fell from her eye. Although her intelligence quotient was genetically engineered to be that of a genius, in the end, Galatea had lived for only 3 years. Furthermore, she had never experienced any particularly negative or powerful feelings until the recent incidents. Now, when the heat of the moment passed, she was like a child that was suddenly abandoned by her parents and found herself in a very big world. A big world where she was all alone.

 _Scene break_

"I knew that he was extremely powerful...but even in the worst case scenario that I had envisioned, things did not end that badly." Bruce Wayne muttered, a grim expression marring his face.

Next to him, Selina Kyle was biting her lower lip in worry.

"Bruce, do you think he'll come after you?"

He shook his head and said categorically.

"The chances are slim. Close to zero."

Knowing that Selina wanted to ask him what made him so sure of that, he continued.

"Most of the Justice League thinks of him as of a rabid animal with no sense of reason. But I know Uzumaki...and I dare say I know him very well. Ever since I took notice of him nearly 3 years ago, he had never attacked anyone unprovoked. Not even once. And every time he killed someone, it was either in revenge, for the assumed death of his sister, or for the sake of staying alive."

"I have not harmed Uzumaki nor his sister in any way ever since you convinced him to spare my life." Bruce said and kissed the back of Selina's palm in gratitude. "Unless Uzumaki has suddenly changed his personality and principles, he has no reason to come after us."

 _Scene break_

Two days after the major incident that happened during Christmas, Naruto could be found in the same hotel room that Galatea had booked for them. He was sitting in the living room, tucked in the futon in front of the fireplace, sleeping.

However, this time, it was only a regular sleep - the melted skin all over his arms, torso and face had miraculously been regenerated. During those two days, his body had been in a deep slumber, his chakra hearts focused solely on healing his grievous wounds. Now that he was perfectly fine again, he only needed some rest for his dantian to recharge.

"Hey, Kurama... how exactly is our relationship with the blonde girl going to evolve from now on?" Misaki asked, her face scrunched into a cute frown.

During the past days, although hesitatingly, Kyuubi had told her the truth in the end. On one hand, Misaki was grateful to Galatea for having stood by her brother's side. From what Kyuubi told her, Naruto would have probably been killed or captured had it not been for her. But, on the other hand, none of those would have happened had Galatea not attacked and grievously wounded him in the first place. Because of that, Misaki had mixed feelings in regards to her.

Kyuubi, who was curled up in Misaki's lap like always, opened one of his eyes and looked at her.

"It's not my decision to take. It's Naruto's."

"B-But she nearly killed him! And now she's living in the same place as us. How can you be ok with that?!"

That was, indeed, not something that an ordinary person would overlook. But having the memories of their past lives made it so such a thing to not be something that Naruto and Kyuubi would be really affected by.

"Don't forget that it was Naruto that actually killed her first." Kurama replied.

"Yeah, but..." she didn't continue her words for a while. "...then how can _she_ be ok with sharing an apartment with someone that killed her before?!"

Misaki could simply not wrap her mind around it. They were talking about life and death matters there! She couldn't understand why were both Kyuubi and Galatea treating the entire affair so casually.

Kyuubi growled in irritation. But then, once again, he sighed. He reminded himself that Misaki was just a civilian. With that thought in mind, he tried to explain.

"Misaki, think about it: Naruto killed her before, but she came back to life somehow. You can count that as him 'nearly' killing her. As for Galatea, she nearly killed Naruto as well. You can say that now they're on equal grounds - they both tried to kill each other and they both failed in the end."

"The most important thing, however, is what happened after that: the two of them joined forces to fight against a common enemy."

"You're an ordinary girl; hopefully, and, if Naruto gets his way, you will never have to go through a similar situation. But you have to understand that, in that moment, in their 'darkest hour', Naruto and Galatea only had each other to rely on. Imagine, two mortal enemies having to trust each other with their lives... It's not an easy thing. Any of them could have simply stabbed the other in the back."

"...Yet they didn't! They had protected each other's back until the last moment. And that is something extraordinary! It is because of the trust that was born between the two of them in that life and death situation that now they no longer hold any kind of ill feelings towards each other. And I would know that since it's an innate ability of mine to sense negative emotions and feelings."

 _Scene break_

Whether Kyuubi had been aware of it or not, with her enhanced hearing, Galatea had heard every single bit of his conversation with Misaki. And the fox's words were like an eye-opener for Galatea. They helped her greatly in understanding her own feelings about the situation.

Shortly after Kyuubi stopped talking with Misaki, Galatea came out of her room.

She was just about to take go out for a walk when she heard a loud yawn. Unconsciously, she stopped - Naruto had just woken up. A strange feeling of relief washed over her.

"Onii-chan!" Misaki exclaimed and, despite the frailty of her body, she launched herself from the sofa, on Naruto, who was getting up from the futon.

Naruto had no intention to dodge her whatsoever. He let himself be embraced and smothered by his sister, all the while sporting a content smile on his face.

"Get a room you two! There are people watching. Perverts!" Kyuubi said and snickered when he saw Misaki's face turn beet red.

"I'm a pervert? Then what about you?" Naruto asked all the while grinning wickedly.

"N-Naruto! Don't you dare!" Kyuubi growled.

But Naruto was unmoved. With a high-pitched voice, he imitated the sound he had heard from the porn movie that Kyuubi had watched a few weeks before:

 _"Ah! Master, fuck your slutty kitten harder!"_

"NARUTO!"

 _Scene break_

"You should consider changing your outfit if you want to be able to blend in with the rest of the people."

"What exactly is wrong with my clothes?" Galatea asked, her eyes narrowed at Naruto.

"Do you really want me to go there? Take a look around you."

They were currently in one of the main boulevards of Gotham City and, true to Naruto's words, the passers-by were all looking at Galatea in a manner that would better be called 'ogling'.

Naruto sighed.

"Listen to me...first of all, it's the 30th of December. It's snowing. Normally, at this time of the year, people all dress with clothes as thick as possible. It's minus 10 Celsius degrees outside - nobody walks in a paper-thin one-piece swimming suit."

"You think someone like me is affected by cold?" came her retort.

"Even if it was the middle of the summer, it wouldn't be proper for a girl to walk around dressed like that. What are you, a hooker?" Naruto asked. He was getting annoyed with how stubborn she was.

Galatea grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Want me to kill you, bastard?"

Naruto merely shrugged.

"If you want to walk next to me on the street, you better dress properly. If you don't want, well, feel free to piss off. As simple as that."

Getting himself out of her hold, he started to walk towards one of the more expensive commercial districts of the city - Galatea wasn't the only one that was stubborn; Naruto was too. Plus, he had the common sense on his side. After all, they were headed for a meeting with a rather important person. Even a former thug like him knew that it wouldn't be proper to go dressed up in his usual outfit - the traditional black ninja clothes.

"Tsk! I don't really give a crap about some rich boy anyway." Galatea said and flew away. "There are other, more important things that I must do."

Naruto just shrugged and continued on his way. After he just woke up that day, one of the hotel's bellboys came to their suite and delivered him an envelope. It was a small letter in which both him and Galatea were invited for a "business meeting".

Now Naruto wouldn't normally care about such things. It was only out of curiosity that he decided to go. He was wondering: _'What business would a useless playboy like Bruce Wayne have to do with a world-wide known criminal like me?'_. Deciding to answer to Bruce Wayne's invitation was merely a whim.

After he entered a store, it didn't take long for him to pick up some clothes: a pair of dark blue jeans, a brown long-sleeved blouse and a black leather jacket. For shoes, he chose a pair of brown leather ankle boots. It was not elegant but it was still decent and, obviously, much better than his current outfit.

After he paid for his clothes, he headed towards the exit...what awaited him there, however, startled him.

It took only around 30 minutes for him to finish his shopping but, when he exited the store, the entire boulevard was in a furore!

In spite of the cruel cold outside, thousands of people had gathered together, forming an enormous crowd that was making the wide boulevard seem narrow...and more people were coming, with each passing minute! The clamour of voices was deafening.

"What's going on...?" Naruto mumbled to himself, wide-eyed.

The people gathered there were all cheering and shouting enthusiastically. Children had whiskers drawn on their cheeks and countless others were holding placards and panels with "UZUMAKI", "THE REAL SUPERHERO" or "THE HERO WE NEED" written on them. The flashes of light coming from photo cameras were blinding and many reporters from various TV channels were trying to get closer to the front of the store via helicopters...

Gotham City was greeting its hero.

* * *

AN:

 _(No beta and I'm not an English native either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made)_


	34. Chapter 34 - Family comes first

AN:

"Hello" - normal talking

' _Hello'_ \- thinking

* * *

 **Chapter 34 - Family comes first**

When Naruto reached Bruce Wayne's manor, his thoughts were all in disarray. He didn't know what to make of what happened on the boulevard a few minutes before.

The moment he decided to kill the Joker and cause the Arkham Massacre, he had resolved himself to become enemies with the entire world if necessary. He had expected the entire world to see him as a murderer, a dangerous criminal. Yet...what he witnessed only a few minutes ago was...

 _'I believed that I no longer cared what people thought about me...'_

But when he was met with the immense crowd of people, he could not shake off the indescribable emotion that took over him.

 _'It's like when I saved Konoha after Pain razed it to the ground.'_

However, the difference was that Naruto felt like he had deserved it back then. After all, he had saved so many people and had even made the enemy return them all to life. This time around though?

 _'I've killed over 100 prisoners in Arkham Asylum, tortured the Joker to death, caused a bloodbath on the Prison Island and I also killed a few tens of mercenaries at Orochimaru's secret base... I've literally bathed in the blood of my enemies.'_

Ironically, in his previous life, where he had fought in 2 wars, of which one was a world war, he had killed less than 5 people. Yet, in this life, the body count was nearing 400... and that in less than 3 years.

 _'I am a killer...what do all those people see as heroic and worthy of praise at me?'_

So distracted he was by his thoughts that he barely even paid attention to the beautiful scenery of the courtyard and the grand architecture of the building. It was only when he arrived in front of the main entrance and an old gentleman dressed in a butler attire greeted him that he finally focused on the matter at hand.

The old butler spoke to him politely and Naruto handed him over the letter of invitation. As he followed him inside, Naruto couldn't help asking:

"Someone like me meeting your master...are you not worried in the least, old man?"

Despite Naruto's rather rude form of addressing him, a small smile appeared on the butler's face when he turned to look at him.

"My master is not as simple as he appears to be. And I trust him completely." he said, his loyalty inwardly surprising Naruto.

 _Scene break_

 _"The leader of the Russian Federation that has ruled for the past 30 years with an iron fist has been confirmed deceased."_

 _"Igor Ivan, 70 years old has been found dead in his mansion together with his wife, 2 children and 5 grandchildren. They had been celebrating his birthday."_

In normal circumstances, Naruto would have not given a second look at that piece of information. While still not very common, country leaders being assassinated was not unheard of in a world overrun by metahumans. However, after his meeting with Bruce Wayne, his disinterest disappeared.

Naruto changed the TV channel. Once again, it was a show debating the Russian leader's assassination. The entire world was in an uproar. Similar to the United States of America, the Russian Federation was considered a major superpower on Earth. That even someone like Igor Ivan had been successfully assassinated, it was like a bucket of ice-cold water thrown on the heads of all the important political figures of the moment. They realized that no matter who they were, they were in danger. If someone like the president of the Russian Federation could be killed then so could they.

"What are you up to, old man?" Naruto muttered.

He could still vividly recall Bruce Wayne's words at their meeting: that Sarutobi Hiruzen was alive and that he was the leader of one of the most dangerous terrorist organisations in the world.

Naruto sighed. He wasn't as shocked as Bruce Wayne had anticipated him to be. To Naruto, it had always looked rather dodgy that his grandfather, a martial arts legends was killed with a gun of all things. But, after years of his suspicions not being confirmed, he accepted that he really died. That said, while he was surprised by Bruce Wayne's revelation, it wasn't to an unreasonable level.

"Still, to think that a useless playboy like Bruce Wayne would be the Batman...a shinobi has to look underneath the underneath, huh, Kakashi-sensei?"

 _Throwback_

"What are you aiming for by telling me all of this? Also, why have you exposed your identity? Are you not afraid that now that I know your real self I could kill you any time I wanted?"

Bruce Wayne brought his hands together, interlocking his fingers.

"You've had my life in your hands before. And you spared me."

"That's not a solid argument."

"I know." Bruce Wayne admitted "But while the rest of the Justice League sees you as a rabid animal that needs to be put down -" Naruto's eyebrows started twitching at that "- I know that there were reasons behind every time you killed someone. All these years I have followed your movements closely... Never have I seen you killing an innocent. And you've never attacked someone unprovoked."

A cruel smirk made its way on Naruto's face and his blue eyes became slit without him even intending it.

"You're almost making me look like an antihero of sorts, just like the crowd of people still chanting my name in the centre of the city...but while they are unaware of my recent deeds, you know the truth... what do you say about that 13 year old kid that I killed a few days ago? Shazam. What about the death of Hawkman and Aquaman? Or that of Red Tornado?"

For a while, Batman looked like he couldn't find his words. But then, he said:

" _If someone tries to kill me or harm my family...do you think that I'll just give them a pat on the back? Be it a man, be it a woman, be it a kid, be it elders, be it a priest, be it a nun, be it the president of the United States...be it even a god...none of that matter to me! And none shall be spared_... according to Doctor Fate, this is what you said back then."

After a small pause, Batman continued:

"The Justice League had resolved themselves to cross 'the line' by creating that punitive force. Superman and Flash would have most likely tried to avoid that from happening - you being killed. After all, these two men truly are some of the most pure-hearted people I've ever met."

"However, others like the Hawkwoman, Green Lantern or Wonder Woman would have not hesitated to deal the final blow themselves."

"I'm not saying that what you did was morally right... but, on the battlefield, there are no morals. There are only winners and losers. Had you lost, your fate would have not been much different than that of Captain Marvel. You would have been killed."

None of them spoke for a long while.

"You have changed...You have changed a lot, Batman." Naruto said, not quite realizing it himself that he was the one that had produced that very change in Gotham City's Dark Knight.

The one in question brought his hands in front of his chin, obscuring half of his face.

"I took up the mask and the cape in order to help and protect the innocent...my dream had always been to create a world where no innocents would be hurt...a world where no other 8-year-old boy would lose his parents because of a punk with a gun." Bruce Wayne said bitterly.

Naruto was rendered silent at his words. He could feel that that was the innermost desire of his heart. The bitterness in Bruce Wayne's voice could not be faked.

"But I was too soft... there are many other superheroes that can remain soft and enforce the justice in their own way, from the light. However, sometimes, the justice has to come from the dark..."

"If I have to cut off a serial killer's arms in order to stop him from committing other atrocities in the future, then so be it!"

"If crushing a paedophile's genitalia means that no other kids would be raped and traumatized for life, I am more than willing to do it!"

"If killing someone like the Joker would prevent another few hundreds of innocent people dying again in a bombing, I won't hesitate in the least. Not again. Not anymore."

"A few years ago I used to think _'Killing a killer would not decrease the number of killers in the world. It would remain the same.'_ But if I were to kill 10 murderers, won't the number of criminals be reduced? That without even counting how many tragedies would be prevented from happening in the first place."

Naruto actually snickered at the last bit. Still, despite his words, Batman had not reached to that level yet. He had not crossed the 'last line' yet.

"Uzumaki Naruto... I am making you an offer, similar to the one I have made you nearly 3 years ago. Though, this time, I won't ask you to work for me. This time, I'm asking you: let's work together!"

To say that Naruto was surprised would be an understatement.

"Oi, oi... what about your league of superfriends? Won't they all get pissed off at you betraying them and allying yourself with the one they see as their mortal enemy?"

Bruce Wayne replied calmly:

"You can't have the cake and eat it. It's either one or the other."

Naruto let out a sigh.

"Look here, man... while I actually admire you for what Gotham has become in the last two years after your change of mentality... I'm not interested in becoming a superhero. To be honest, I don't care about other people. While it's true that I will never kill someone for fun nor will I ever harm innocents, that doesn't mean that I will suddenly start acting like a hero and actively protect them."

"Then what about what happened in Gotham City only half an hour ago? ...thousands of people are still gathered there, shouting your name and calling you - 'The hero we need'." Batman countered.

Naruto shrugged.

"I've never asked for that. And I never cared for them. Because more than anyone, I know how fickle crowds can be. They will praise you today and stone you to death tomorrow."

"The only ones I care about are my sister and my fox companion -"

"Then what about your grandfather?" Batman interrupted.

"The old man made a choice. I don't know what his plans are but I only know one thing: he faked his death and abandoned Misaki and I. For him, whatever his plans were, they were more important than his family. And, for me, that is a more than enough reason to wash off my hands in regards to him."

Naruto's words about his grandfather were cold and harsh but with the memories of his past life, there was no way he would feel the other way around. What Sarutobi Hiruzen did in this life was similar to what Minato Namikaze had done in his past life: he had condemned his newborn son to a life of pain and suffering only to ensure that his village would be protected. For Minato Namikaze, Konohagakure no Sato was more important than his family. That's why Naruto was now uncaring about his grandfather's fate. Once Sarutobi abandoned his family, he became less than a stranger for Naruto.

"That said, thank you for your offer, but no thank you. For the foreseeable future, my plan is to just enjoy a normal life together with my sister. God knows that the last three years had been hell for me."

"I think it's finally the time for me to live my life."

Naruto sat up to leave.

"Before I go, though, can you give me Barbara Gordon's address, please? It would save me a lot of trouble in searching for her."

 _Scene break - New Year's Eve_

The doorbell rang insistently.

"Just who could possibly be at this time?" Barbara Gordon muttered to herself.

It was the evening of the New Year's Eve and most people would be together with their loved ones, celebrating.

Still, she couldn't just ignore it. With a grumble, she sat up from the sofa and went to the door. She had been laying like a lonely shut-in, watching the TV since she had nobody with whom to spend the New Year. Her red hair was tied up in a messy bun and she was dressed in some sloppy pyjamas. Still, Barbara Gordon didn't care about tidying her appearance before going to the door.

When she opened it, however, she stepped back in both surprise and fear.

"W-What are you doing here?"

Spiky and wild blonde hair, blue eyes and 3 pairs of whisker-like scars on his cheeks. It was a face that nobody in the entire USA would dare say they couldn't recognize.

"Is this how you greet your childhood friend, Barbara? I'm hurt." Naruto said jokingly, the tips of his lips curling into a small smile.

That action, however, made the red-haired girl gulp audibly.

Naruto was not truly aware of it but his appearance made his otherwise nice smile terribly intimidating. Putting aside his feral-looking facial features, his tall and muscular frame was an intimidating factor by itself. When those were coupled with the knowledge of what he had done in the past, it was no wonder that an ordinary person would be terrified. Furthermore, in Barbara Gordon's memories, Naruto used to have the built of an Asian teenager, being rather short and a bit scrawny...not looking like a man over 6 feet tall, packed with muscles.

Seeing the girl not reacting to his light joke, he scratched his right cheek troubled.

"Barbara...I'm not here to hurt you." Naruto said, trying to speak in a gentle voice. "Since little, have I not always protected you as well along with my sister?"

It was true. Just like Misaki, Barbara has also been a very popular girl in high school. Whenever the two of them went out on one of their money-squandering shopping sprees, countless heads turned after them. Both redheads and both very attractive - they were like magnets for trouble and men. Barbara being the daughter of Commissioner Gordon eased the danger for her a bit but not many people were actually aware of her identity. Had it not been for Naruto, for a girl as beautiful as her, life wouldn't have been that smooth in a city like Gotham.

Hearing his words, Barbara looked down, unable to meet his eyes. Still, she was not an ungrateful person, nor was she someone who forgot her friends. Although still secretly afraid, Barbara gathered her courage to speak to him

"Where have you been all these years? I thought that..."

Her eyes misted. Unconsciously, she raised her voice when she asked again:

"Where have you been all these years? ...N-Not even once have I seen you at Misaki's grave!"

Tears started to fall down her cheeks as old pain started to resurface.

"M-Misaki's grave?" Naruto asked, his voice hollow.

So absorbed he had been by his own sorrow and rage that Naruto had forgotten that he wasn't the only one that had been grieving over his sister's presumed death. Looking at how Barbara's body was being shaken by her crying and how tears fell from her eyes, a pang of guilt stabbed at his heart.

"I'm sorry." he said quietly and stepped towards the crying young woman.

Naruto was not very adept at socializing or other types of human relationships but it didn't take a genius to understand how distraught Barbara was in that moment. Although rather hesitatingly, Naruto lifted his arms and brought her into his embrace.

Barbara didn't back away. Instead, she buried her face into his broad chest, starting to cry louder.

 _'Oh man, what the hell...'_

By hugging her Naruto thought that he would bring a measure of comfort to the crying woman.

 _'Why did she start to cry even harder?!'_

He didn't understand her reaction. Awkwardly, he brought his hand to her head and tried to caress her hair.

"H-Hey...don't cry... it's ok... look, Misaki is actually not dead. She is,"

Whatever Naruto was about to say was left unsaid as the situation became eerie when Barbara's desperate crying abruptly stopped.

The disbelief in her following question was almost palpable:

"W-WHAT...?!"

 _Scene break_

It was a tearful reunion for the two best friends. The moment Misaki appeared in Barbara's eyes, she tackled her in a tight embrace, not letting go of her for a long time. When Misaki "died", for a long time, Barbara had been devastated. She struggled with depression for months and she would often visit her grave, not leaving until her eyes could no longer shed any tears. Her social life crumbled at a fast pace and, in no time, she became a shut-in. When instead of following her initial plans of becoming a programmer, Barbara chose to not go to college anymore, conflicts arose with her father, fact which, in the end, led to her moving out and breaking contact with him. After that, she focused her entire energy in keeping the appearance of rather introverted librarian at her job while secretly acting as Batgirl, a local hero in Gotham City, for the sake of stopping crime in her free time.

That being said, Misaki's "death" had completely turned Barbara's life upside down. Now that she found that she was alive, Barbara couldn't help holding onto her as though she were her lifeline.

What Barbara thought it would one of the most pathetic New Years that she had ever experienced, turned out to be the happiest moment of her life. Together with Misaki, Naruto and Kyuubi, they feasted on the heavenly food provided by the 5-star hotel where the Uzumaki lived and, when the middle of the night came, Naruto and Kyuubi took her and Misaki to the central plaza of Gotham City.

As the brilliant fireworks illuminated the night sky, Barbara took hold of Misaki's hand, intertwining her fingers with hers and leaned onto her shoulder. Initially holding in his embrace only his sister, Naruto willingly extended one of his arms to bring in Barbara as well. He could see that Misaki craved Barbara's touch just as much as the other girl did. Naruto wasn't much for showing physical displays of affection to other people than his sister, but it was a special moment. Watching Misaki's face radiating with happiness, he thought:

 _'Anyone that can make my sister smile like that is worth protecting.'_

 _'I want to protect that smile. I want Misaki to never be sad again.'_

If protecting his sister's smile meant that he had to extend his care and friendly affection towards Barbara as well, Naruto was more than willing to do it. Because he knew that Barbara's feelings for his sister were also genuine as well.

Not one to be left out, Kyuubi jumped onto Naruto's shoulder and, to Naruto's surprise, the fox wrapped his furry tails around his neck.

Had it been any other moment, Naruto would have immediately said a rude joke and made fun of Kyuubi's action, but, at that moment, he decided against it. Since even a royal tsundere like Kyuubi willingly expressed his affection, Naruto did not want to not ruin the moment. Because despite the noise made by the fireworks exploding, Naruto could still hear the sound of purring coming from the fox hugging his neck. Content and happiness could be felt from him - ever since the Sage of the Six Paths died, Kyuubi had never had someone he could call a friend, let alone family. Although in his past life he had bonded with Naruto for a few days during the 4th Shinobi World War, it was in this life that the two of them became true partners. It was only now, after more than one thousand of years from the death of his creator, that Kyuubi was finally experiencing again what having a family felt like.

Naruto noticed the fluctuation of emotions from Kyuubi despite the fox not showing any outward signs of it. Due to the two of them having shared the same body for decades, they had developed a telepathic link. Through it, although blurred when the link was not active, the two of them could still vaguely perceive the general mood of each other.

Leaving Misaki's waist for a moment, Naruto's hand came and rested on top of Kyuubi's head. No words were spoken, but the fox's act of leaning into his touch was all that Naruto needed to know.

 _Scene break_

While the Uzumaki siblings, Kyuubi and Barbara Gordon were experiencing a magical moment together in the main plaza of Gotham City, somewhere in Chihuahuan Desert, Mexico, Galatea was feeling completely the opposite.

For several days, Galatea had flown at top speeds to all the secret bases Orochimaru had planted all over the world, all the while using her X-ray vision to scan for him. Eventually, she found him in the secret base from Mexico. However, unlike what she had been expecting - to find him terrified and trying to hide - it appeared that he had been waiting for her in a relaxed manner.

But, when she finally entered the room where he was, the sound of a blade being thrust into one's body was heard. Under her disbelieving eyes, Orochimaru plunged a long dagger straight into his own heart!

Before coming there Galatea had been boiling with anger, eager to torture him, to send him to his death in the worst way possible... but when the one that had created her committed suicide right under her eyes, she was petrified. Without her noticing, tears started to trail down Galatea's soft cheeks.

"Why?"

That was the only thing she could bring herself to utter.

A sound akin to a mix between laughter and someone choking came from Orochimaru as blood started to leak from his mouth.

"Kuku... I didn't want my daughter to kill her own father..."

Galatea wanted to scream at him. To tell him to cut the bullshit about him being her father. She wanted to make him tell her why did he kill her. But no words came out of her mouth.

"I know what you think... but that was not me..."

"...Back then, it wasn't me..."

Life was slipping out of his body along with his blood. He was having trouble forming his words and he knew that he only had a few seconds left.

"The notebook... on the desk... read it... my last words... Galatea... my daughter..."

He looked like he had wanted to say more but his lips became still. Orochimaru died.

* * *

AN: _(No beta and I'm not an English native either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	35. Chapter 35 - Understanding

AN:

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 35 - Understanding**

After Lex Luthor was confirmed dead, many of the metahuman criminals were scared into hiding. After a very long time, not only Gotham City but the biggest part of USA too was finally experiencing a Christmas and a New Year where no metahuman wrecked havoc. Furthermore, after the ovations of the thousands of people gathered in Gotham City on the streets appeared on the news, none of the imprisoned metahumans have attempted to break out.

There was one thing that everyone understood in that moment: there was a merciless killer out there. One that held no respect or fear for any kind of authority. A killer that - not coincidentally - has only murdered villains until then. And the people actually voicing out loud their support for his actions made the villains fear for their future. It made them fear for their lives. Those that used to terrorize other people were now feeling themselves what living in terror was like. It was to the point that some of those that were imprisoned were feeling glad that they were locked up in high-security prisons.

It was the middle of January when Naruto, Misaki and Barbara were returning home from a session of physical rehabilitation under a specialist's supervision at the hospital. They were all in a rather elegant black BMW, Barbara being the one driving it seeing as Naruto didn't have a license and Misaki was still not physically apt for it. Naruto bought the car only for Misaki and Barbara to have a means of transportation. He was not interested in studying for getting a license because no car would ever be able to compete with his own body's speed, not to mention freedom of movement.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say the two of you are a couple." Barbara said and smiled at the reflection she was seeing the mirror: Misaki was sleeping soundly all the while hugging Naruto's muscular arm, her head resting on his shoulder. While the medic said she was well on her way to a full recovery, physical effort was still very exhausting for her. Merely walking felt strenuous. That's why, it didn't take long for her to fall asleep on their way back.

"Seeing how you watched each one of her moves for the past two weeks, I'd say you're the one that has a thing for her." Naruto said back half-jokingly, half seriously.

Barbara looked straight ahead purposely, not wanting to meet Naruto's piercing gaze in the mirror.

"Hypothetically speaking, just hypothetically, if I really were to have a thing for her, what would you think about it?"

She went ahead and actually asked what has been on her mind for weeks already! She was afraid of the answer she would get because it depended on what Naruto said whether she would actually have a chance at having something with Misaki or not.

"No need to hide behind a finger, Barbara." Naruto said. "Do you like Misaki that way?"

Barbara gulped audibly. She pressed the breaks of the car and pulled it on the side of the road, stopping. She turned in her seat with her face towards and looked him in the eyes.

"I don't just like her... I love her."

"Alright then."

"Ehh?!" she exclaimed startled.

"What?"

"You're fine with it just like that?"

The redhead had expected Naruto to make her swear on her life or some other difficult things to prove the authenticity of her feelings. She certainly had not expected him to be so casual about it.

After all, Barbara knew better than anyone else just how big of a siscon Naruto was.

"Why would I not be? I know your feelings for her are genuine and my sister cares a great deal for you as well. As long she is happy, I am happy too. That's all that matters for me."

Relief washed over Barbara and a smile was deeply etched on her face as she continued to drive the car back home.

"What about you, Naruto?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've known you since forever. And I've never seen you showing interest in any girls."

Naruto looked like he was deep in thought.

"When I was younger, I was too preoccupied with finding ways to survive the old man's training from one day to another...you know how he used to be." He said and chuckled.

Barbara nodded in acknowledgement. Whenever she came over to the Uzumaki siblings' house, Sarutobi Hiruzen was always nice to her and Misaki. But Barbara would often see Naruto sporting new bruises every week - most them were not from the scuffles he was getting into with other thugs on the streets but from the old man himself.

"By the time I got in high school I had already sent dozens of idiots to hospital. My name came to be known and feared not only in hour school but most of the surrounding neighbourhoods as well. Even if I had wanted to start a relationship with someone just what girl would have dared to come anywhere close to me?"

Barbara couldn't find anything to say at his words as they were perfectly true.

"However, the biggest reason behind me not showing any interest in other girls is Misaki."

A lump appeared in Barbara's throat.

 _'Does he really feel that way about his own sister?!'_

Seeing the scandalized look in Barabara's eyes, Naruto felt like bonking her on the head. And he would have done if she had not been driving in that moment.

"Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"What I wanted to say is that I've always compared the girls I knew with my sister...be it beauty, smarts and a pleasant personality - Misaki has them all. None of the girls I've met have ever come anywhere close to her."

None of them said anything for a while. Eventually, Naruto added out of the blue:

"Besides, even if I found a girl matching my sister's qualities, it would be impossible for me to be with her."

Barbara didn't ask for clarification. He understood where he was getting at. Even so, Naruto continued, feeling the odd need to confess about that to someone. After all, he has not had any personal discussion with someone ever since Misaki was "killed".

"Look at me - just who would accept me? I killed hundreds of people until now. Not to mention that there's no secret to which lengths I will go to get my revenge on someone. I'm a rather horrible person now that think about it." Naruto said and chuckled bitterly.

"Do not lose hope." Barbara said quietly, inwardly moved by his words. "Maybe, just maybe, one day, you will find someone who will accept you as you are. You never know what will life bring forth for you."

Naruto snorted. He knew very well what a cruel mistress life was for him. Two lives and neither had been easy or devoid of suffering. Furthermore, he knew that even if he found someone who accepted him as he was, he would still not be able to be with her.

"Even if someone fully accepted me as I am, it would still not be possible for us to last...I've become infamous world-wide. The number of people I killed is not small and the ones that would jump at the chance of harming me are more than I can count."

"If...If I ever get the chance to have a relationship with someone, that girl will have to be very powerful. At least as powerful as I am. I don't want a damsel in distress. I already have an adorable and helpless one in my life. Two would be too much even for me." Naruto said while gently caressing the top of Misaki's head who was still sleeping soundly despite Naruto and Barbara's chatting.

"What I need is someone that will be able to support me...someone able to stand by my side as my equal. Someone I can count on."

As he said those last words, the image of a very beautiful woman with baby blue eyes and blonde hair appeared at the front of his mind.

 _'She's certainly powerful. Talk about a woman who could actually kick my ass. Not to mention just how attractive she is...'_

' _If only she had long hair, she would be even more beautiful than Misaki. Her body, at the very least, is unbelievable.' Naruto thought._

Still, he knew nothing else about her... What kind of person was she? Was she loyal? Would she be faithful to her partner? What type of personality she had? Was she intelligent?

Naruto stopped himself from thinking about the matter any further. He snorted at his own naivety.

 _'What am I even thinking of? The first time we met, we greeted each other with a fist. The second time, we fought to against each other to death and I killed her. The third time, she nearly killed me. She destroyed my house and melted off half of my body... what could possibly happen between the two of us after all of this?'_

Naruto and Barbara spent the rest of their trip in silence, both of them deep in thought. Eventually, they reached their destination - their new home.

When Galatea attacked Naruto, the shockwaves of their fight and Kyuubi's escaping had turned the place in a complete wreck. After the New Year passed, Naruto wanted to hire a house-building company to fix all that damage but, when he thought about it better, he decided against it. Since he had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life without working, why not enjoy it?

In the end, he put the Monkey King's Dojo for sale and bought a medium-sized but cosy house at the periphery of the city, in of the best and most quiet residential districts of the Gotham. It had 5 bedrooms, a large living room, a kitchen and two bathrooms. Furthermore, what Naruto liked the most about the place that he had bought, was that it was very spacious with around 1000 square meters of garden. He could make a small training field for himself there, plant a few trees and build a pavilion for them to just relax there or even dine together with his sister during summer.

 _Scene break_

It was night. Barbara went back to her home earlier before and Misaki was still sleeping.

Naruto was in the living room absent-mindedly watching a match of boxing - more exactly, the World Championship final of the heavy weight category.

Sure, they were just ordinary humans, not having any superpowers whatsoever. Ever since the apparition of metahumans, traditional fighting sports that were once adored before were now experiencing a period of decline in popularity. After all, why would anyone go to see a boxing match between two ordinary guys when they could watch "live" and for free how Superman or Green Lantern kicked some supervillain's butt?

Still, it wasn't like they declined completely. And there still were people that truly enjoyed watching and analysing the fights meticulously. People like Naruto.

Thanks to the gruelling training his grandfather had put him through from a frail age, Naruto was now a very accomplished fighter. He appreciated the beauty of clean K.O., the importance of the fighters' footwork and so on, on a level that many people couldn't.

 _'I wonder, if I hadn't gotten to know the power of chakra, would I have been able to stand against them on equal grounds?'_

A sudden knock on the door distracted him from his thoughts.

"What the...?"

There was a doorbell at the gate. And the gate was closed. How come someone was knocking on the door? Furthermore, it was past 10 o'clock in the night, no normal person would try to bother someone else at this hour.

When he went to the door, he saw through the glass the culprit. His annoyance disappeared right away, thinking that he should consider himself lucky that said person was just knocking, not doing anything excessive. Because it was none other than Galatea! Last time she came to his house, she nearly demolished it. Naruto couldn't help feeling almost grateful that she didn't simply smash her way inside.

"Hey." Naruto greeted when he opened the door.

"Hi."

The two of them stared at each other awkwardly, neither of them knowing what else to say for a while. In that time, Naruto couldn't help taking a second look at her.

The blonde woman sported a totally different outfit compared to what she used to wear before: a pair of black, high-heeled ankle boots, faux leather black leggings were hugging her shapely legs tightly, a dark beige woollen blouse that reached her thighs and a long black coat that went past her knees. A black leather purse and chic black hat completed the outfit, giving it a stylish vibe.

It was a rather normal outfit that many of the young women in USA loved to wear during winter. It didn't reveal any skin and it wasn't meant to outline the sexiness of the wearer. It was a proper winter outfit. However, Galatea being dressed in it made Naruto unable to utter a word for a brief moment.

But when he finally met her eyes, he realized that the blonde girl in front of him was far from being well. After dressing his voice, he asked:

"What brings you here?"

Galatea looked at her feet as she asked after a moment of hesitation:

"Can I come in?"

 _Scene break_

Whether it was because of his discussion with Barbara earlier that day or because Galatea's new appearance had that much impact on him, Naruto wasn't sure which was the reason, but he was feeling self-conscious in that moment, like never before.

Normally, he didn't really care about his appearance or whether his room was tidy or not - they were trivial things in his opinion. However, when he let Galatea in, odd thoughts started to appear in his mind. For example, he realized that was dressed in just a pair of pyjamas trousers and a t-shirt - definitely not something one would wear while having guests. Furthermore, a strange embarrassment came over him when he spotted a few empty cans of Coca Cola and ripped chips bags on the low table in front of the sofa.

Hurriedly, he tidied up the pillows of the sofa and offered the girl to take a seat. Then, he tried to take away everything from the low table as fast as possible. But, in his hurry, a can fell of from his arms. Naruto felt his face heating up when he picked the empty can from the floor. Forcing his voice to sound calm, he said, all the while almost sprinting towards the kitchen:

"Make yourself at home while I prepare some hot chocolate for you, ok? Or maybe you want some tea?"

"Chocolate is fine. Thank you!" Galatea said quietly, but loud enough for Naruto to hear her.

When he got to the kitchen, he threw everything into the trash bin and then palmed his face with both of his hands.

 _'The heck is wrong with me today?!'_

He felt like walking on thin glass. It wasn't like him to get flustered from small things...or from anything at all. He was always in control.

While waiting for the water to start boiling he closed his eyes and circulated the chakra through his meridians. His two chakra hearts gradually calmed down and his agitated mood reverted to normal. When he opened his eyes, he sighed in comfort.

Coming back to the living room, he found Galatea still seated where he left her, not having moved from her place. Seeing the way her coat and her hat were slumped over one of the sofa's armrests, embarrassment bit at him again as he realized what a terrible host he was.

He placed the 2 mugs of hot chocolate on the table and then he took Galatea's coat and hat and hanged them on the stand in the entrance hall. Returning, he took a seat next to her, on the sofa, unconsciously calculating the perfect distance so he would not be too close to her and invade her personal space while also not being too far as to make her think he doesn't want to get anywhere near to her. Once again, it wasn't something he did on a normal basis.

"Now tell me what happened to you. You seem distressed." Naruto started.

Galatea took on sip from her mug before saying:

"I found my father."

"Oh... did you kill him?"

The girl swallowed what looked like a node in her throat.

"No. He committed suicide, right under my eyes."

Naruto was stumped for words. He had certainly not expected that. The Orochimaru he knew from his past life was desperate to obtain immortality, to live forever. To think that THAT man took his own life was inconceivable to him.

Taking Naruto's silence as a sign to continue, Galatea said:

"Before he died, he... he said some words – _I know what you think... but that was not me...Back then, it wasn't me..."_

"He left me a notebook. This notebook." She said and she took a notebook from her purse.

Naruto flipped it open, curious as to what it would be written in it. There wasn't much: only one page.

 _Dear Galatea,_

 _If you read this then it means that I am dead. I want you to know that I loved you more than anything. More than my own life. I would have never hurt you._

 _You know about my past life. There were some people that had special ocular abilities. They could place other people under their illusion and control their actions completely - the Uchiha clan._

 _One of them, was reincarnated in this life as well - Uchiha Itachi. He is a core member of an international terrorist organisation - the League of Shadows. He was the one that made me kill you. I had no control over my actions. It was only after you died that I was released from the genjutsu - the illusion._

 _Ever since I learned that you have managed to survive somehow, I knew that you would come after me and that you would not give me a chance to explain myself or that you would not believe me._

 _I couldn't let you kill me...I didn't want you to stain your hands and your consciousness with the blood of your father - that's why I decided to end my own life._

 _Don't feel sorry for me. I have lived my life like I wanted and I ended it on my own terms too. Furthermore, I didn't live a fruitless life: out of both of my present and past life, you were my greatest achievement. A masterpiece. If there is one regret that I have is that I couldn't gouge that bastard's eyes out with my own hands. Still, I know that he will not escape. Even if you won't go after him, the demonic fox that Uzumaki Naruto keeps at his side will certainly make sure that the Uchiha will die._

 _My daughter, I ask of you only these few things: keep your will firm and your mind clear. Live well, according to your heart's desires and never bend your back in front of anyone. Because nobody is above you. You are the ultimate warrior. You are perfect._

 _I want you to know that no matter what you will do from now on, I will always love you._

 _Orochimaru._

When he finished reading it, Naruto couldn't find his words for a while. Eventually, he asked:

"Are you sure he is dead?"

After reading the contents of the notebook, Naruto felt suspicious. He couldn't wrap his mind around the drastic difference between this Orochimaru and the one that he used to know. He was finding it very hard to believe that one of the most selfish and vile people that he had ever met would choose to die just so he could spare someone from feeling guilt.

"Yes, I saw him dying with my own eyes. Not only he stabbed himself in the stomach, his body also melted afterwards as though it had been submerged in acid. Not even the Pit that brought me back to life can possibly do anything about him anymore."

A lone tear fell down her cheek but she wiped it right away and turned her face to the side, ashamed of letting her weakness being seen like that.

After she composed herself, she asked:

"Is what he said about that man, Uchiha Itachi, true?"

Naruto chose his words carefully before speaking.

"I don't know whether he really is alive in the present but the Uchiha Itachi that I used to know was able to cast one of the most powerful illusions in the entire world. And we're speaking about a world with that had millions of what you would consider as metahumans."

"Nonetheless, if Uchiha Itachi is alive then, what Orochimaru said might have been very well the truth."

Galatea sat up.

"Thank you. That is what I wanted to know from you. Now that I got the confirmation, I know what to do."

She headed towards the entrance door and just as she grabbed her coat, she heard her name being called.

"Galatea!"

It was the first time Naruto actually called out her name.

"Where are you going?"

Naruto didn't really understand his own actions. Why did he even care what was she going to do?

"That man caused my death and my father's as well. I will make him regret ever being born. I'll kill not only him but his entire family..."

"No... I'll save him for the last. I'll kill his parents first. Then his siblings, and then the rest of his family. I'll kill even his dog if he has one. I won't let him die until he tasted the same despair that I did."

With her eyes blazing red, she looked like heat beams were about to be shot.

"Don't tell me you want to stop me! Not after all you did to get your vengeance!" she said, glaring at him aggressively.

"I'd be a hypocrite if I tried to stop you. Besides, why would I? What would I gain from it? Nothing."

"Do what you want to do. However, how are you going to find him? How are you going to do that when you couldn't in 2 weeks? - there's no way you have not tried to search for Uchiha Itachi during this period of time when you were away."

Galatea had indeed looked all over Switzerland for the League of Shadows but the hideout where she had been kept previously was demolished when she went there. She had also tried to get intel about them from information brokers but to no avail. Either they didn't know anything about it or they were too afraid to divulge anything.

"So, does that mean that you can?"

"I'm not saying for certain that I will find him, but my chances are much higher. I'm rather well acquainted with Batman, who is not called the World's Best Detective for nothing. Furthermore, I know a truly exceptional hacker – I broke him out of prison. If the FBI or CIA has any classified information about the League of Shadows, it will not take long before we will obtain it."

Galatea looked at him deeply.

"That does sound promising. But what do you get out of it? Why would you even try to help me in the first place, after what I've done to you?"

Galatea's words made Naruto actually question his own motivation. Why was he helping her? Why did he even care? It was then that Nagato Uzumaki's speech from his past life came at the front of his mind.

"In my past life, someone told me that if you don't share someone's pain you can never understand them."

"But the pain of losing the most important person in your life – I've felt it. I've experienced your despair, your rage. I can relate to you. I've been in the very same situation not long ago."

"I'm only offering you my help, not forcing you to do anything. The choice is yours."

* * *

AN:

 _(Not an English native and I don't work with a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	36. Chapter 36 - Batman's Commitment

AN:

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 36 – Batman's Commitment**

 _"Russia has outright proclaimed that it strongly suspects the USA as being responsible for the assassination of their former leader and his family. The situation is extremely tense, between these two great countries existing now strained diplomatic exchanges..."_

That and other similar things were streamed on all the news TV channels from all over the world. It was the end of January now and things were getting more and more chaotic on the international political scene. Igor Ivan's sudden assassination roused a sense of insecurity in everyone and it looked like one tiny spark would be able to ignite the start of a 3rd World War in that moment.

Things were not looking good and even Naruto was feeling restless - which led to the current situation: he was in the middle of Sahara Desert, a place where no trace of human life could be detected for hundreds of miles around. In front of him, Kyuubi was in his great demonic glory, towering over everything around him with his enormous size.

 **"Oi, Naruto, are you sure about this?"**

"Just do it Kurama! Don't hold back or I'll kick your ass."

The fox snorted at his threat, this simple action causing a whirlwind which lifted immense clouds of sand in the air.

A mass of purple-black charka started to gather between the open jaws of the gigantic fox and Naruto gulped rather nervously at the sight. If the Rasenshuriken of his past life could obliterate a small hill, a full-fledged Bijuudama of the Kyuubi could raze an entire city off the map. It was no less destructive than a modern atomic bomb.

Black Lightning burst from his body - Raiton no Yoroi and, at the same time, a bone membrane grew beneath the skin all over his body. It was the Inner Bone Armour, the same technique that had protected Naruto even against Galatea's heat beams which were said to have the same temperature as the sun itself.

What Naruto was trying to see was whether he would be able to survive an attack similar in power to an atomic bomb - because, given the current crisis on the international political scene, a new world war seemed closer and closer with each passing week.

Kyuubi was just about to fire off the Tailed Beast Ball at Naruto when Galatea mocked from the side-line:

"I'm amazed at how much of an idiot you can be!"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked with a frown, his eyes not leaving the bijuudama forming in front of Kyuubi's mouth.

"Do you think that any country can randomly launch atomic bombs at the USA without them doing anything about it? There are countless anti-missile shields placed all over the country, and especially in the North-Eastern part of USA where the White House and the largest agglomeration of population are located. No atomic bomb or any other missile would be able to reach the American soil easily."

Galatea had been "born" and raised in a military facility. There was no way she would not know such an elementary thing. Understanding this point, Naruto glared at her.

"If you are sooo damn knowledgeable about this why the hell did you agree to flying me over half of the world?!"

To get from Gotham City to the Sahara Desert, Naruto and Kyuubi have obviously not used a plane. Naruto had used Galatea whose flying speed was even faster. It hadn't been a smooth trip for him but it was nonetheless much faster than it would have been had they travelled by plane. Still, it was not comfortable to say the least. In comparison, Kyuubi was simply summoned there, so he wasn't particularly offended.

At Naruto aggravated expression, she just shrugged her shoulders and said nonchalantly:

"It just now came to my mind."

"Not to mention that seeing you struggling to breathe while flying at a supersonic speed was quite amusing to say the least."

A vein started to pulse on Naruto's forehead.

"I think I should teach you to stop messing with your elders."

Now it was Galatea's turn to narrow her eyes at him. Her being only 3 years old despite having the body and the brain of an adult woman, was a rather sensitive matter to her.

"Care to repeat that?"

Seeing the two of them about to start trading blows, Kyuubi stopped gathering chakra for the Bijuudama and fired the incomplete bomb into the air. An enormous explosion shook the atmosphere and a blinding light made it impossible for anything to be seen in the following few seconds.

Completely ignoring the gigantic fox next to them and the enormous explosion in the sky, Naruto and Galatea continued to glare at each other, their eyes brimming with fighting spirit.

"You wanna go at it?" Naruto asked.

"What, you don't dare?" Galatea provoked.

Black lightning enveloped Naruto's entire body once again. While because of Lazarus Pit Galatea had become immune to Naruto's lightning, using the Raiton no Yoroi was still very beneficial for him: it increased his speed, reaction time, strength and explosive power multiple times. Furthermore, it also acted as its name implied - Lightning Armour - greatly boosting his defence.

"No heat beams." Naruto said.

"And no freaky bone weapons." Galatea countered.

Setting the ground rules, the two of them nodded at each other and, without them even noticing it, a subtle smirk appeared on both of their faces as they plunged towards the other in a manner that would make even a savage berserker proud.

Kyuubi reduced his size back to his normal miniature self, knowing that there was no stopping the two of them once they went at it. It was the end of January - Galatea had been living with the Uzumaki sibling for 2 weeks - and it was already the 4th time Naruto and Galatea started a brawl.

Going by the smirks on their faces, there was no real heat between the two of them and no argument really happened whatsoever. Those two loved fighting so much that they were always just waiting for a pretext to start a fistfight.

 _Scene break_

A brown-haired woman dressed in a ninja-like attire appeared from the shadows. Taking out a small tool from one of the pockets of the utility belt she wore at her waist, she picked the lock of the door. It only took her a few seconds!

Once she passed the entrance door, her stance relaxed and her steps became more assured.

But when she arrived at a half-opened door, the sound of gun being loaded was heard from her back and a sharp voice reached her ears:

"Don't move!"

The ninja flicked her hand almost imperceptibly trying to get a hold of the hidden weapon strapped to her wrist.

 _*bang*_

The gun was shot, the bullet narrowly grazing the side of her palm. Only a few millimetres to the left and her left hand would have sported a bloody hole now.

"If I see you move as much as an inch, the next bullet will split your skull."

The tone of the voice was soft and pleasing to one's ears but the killing intent behind it was undisguised. The one speaking was none other than Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman.

A noise came from the other side of the corridor and both women were distracted by it for a second. The ninja however reacted faster: she suddenly threw herself to the floor and a dagger flew from her hand with great accuracy, knocking away the gun from Catwoman's hand.

The one on the other side of the hall had been Alfred, the old butler of Wayne family.

"Alfred, get away from here. Fast!" Catwoman shouted while taking a fighting stance and trying to ignore the pain from her hand after having the gun smashed away from it.

"Miss Selina, calm down! Master Bruce has been waiting for her, they have an appointment." the old butler said quickly, trying to placate things before they escalated too much.

"What kind of person breaks into someone's house like a thief if they had an appointment?" Catwoman asked, her eyes never leaving the woman in front of her.

A taller silhouette appeared behind the butler - having heard the gunshot, Bruce Wayne hurriedly made his way over.

 _A few minutes later in one of the manor's living rooms..._

"Why have you come here Talia? Why did you want us to meet?"

Talia al Ghul, the daughter of the infamous Ra's al Ghul, also known as "The Demon".

"I see you have replaced me with another brunette, Bruce. We even look kind of similar. Did you miss me that much?"

"Cut the chase!" Bruce Wayne said while frowning at her.

"Oh well, you were never one for chit-chat." the assassin relented.

"The League of Shadows purpose has always been to restore balance through eliminating the worst of the evils."

"The Roman Empire's fall, the Black Plague, the Great London Fire and even Gotham's economic depression - these are just some of the things we did."

"You're not telling me anything I didn't know already." Batman interrupted.

"But, now that my father is dead," Talia al Ghul continued "the League of Shadows no longer resembles what it had once been. It changed."

"I did try to take control, to become the new head of the Demon. But I failed. And now, Sarutobi Hiruzen is pursuing me."

"I have managed to elude him for nearly 3 years but I am no longer able to that. I have no other open doors left, nobody else to whom I can turn to. You're the only one."

A rather long silence followed.

"Ra's al Ghul died 3 years ago. Why are you coming to me only now? Furthermore, why would I help you? I will never forget that it was your father that caused my parents' death." Batman said, barely constraining his anger.

"It's in your best interest to help me, Bruce, because Sarutobi is not only after me, but after my child as well...our child."

"WHAT?!"

 _Scene break_

Later that evening, Bruce Wayne's manor was eerily quiet.

Selina Kyle was seated on a sofa, slowly sipping from a cup of tea. It was more like she was doing something to distract herself from the storm that was taking place in her mind.

The sofa's seat was lowered under the weight of someone else when he sat down next to her.

"Selina, can we talk?"

At his words, she felt her eyes misting without her having control over it.

"You never told me you had a son, Bruce."

"Hey, look at me." Bruce Wayne said, cupping her face with his hands gently and meeting her gaze directly. "I give you my word that today is the first time I'm hearing of this too. I would have never kept something so important secret from you."

Selina Kyle lowered her eyes. When she spoke, her voice slightly shook:

"How is this gonna change what we have? How is this going to affect us?"

She was worried that now that Bruce Wayne found out that he had a son, he would want to be together with the mother of his child, not with her.

"Talia and I have had a thing together...but that was in the past."

"I will never forget how desperately you begged Uzumaki to spare my life 3 years ago...But what I feel for you it's not only gratitude."

"Ever since that day, you've been next to me. Supporting me, comforting me, loving me. It was not easy for you but, despite everything, you didn't abandon me."

"You're the best thing that has ever happened in my life. There is no way I will ever choose anyone else over you."

He sat up and took out something from one of the pockets of his trousers. Then, he lowered himself on one knee.

Selina Kyle gasped and she covered her open mouth with her hands in disbelief.

"I've wanted to do this in a select place, after a romantic dinner, at the end of a special day... but I don't think there is going to be a better time or a better place than now and here to ask you this:"

"Selina, will you marry me?"

 _Scene break_

It took Naruto almost two weeks to just get wind of Rupert Jones. The guy was so paranoid and afraid that another criminal organization or that the government would try to capture and use him that, after Lex Luthor's death, he disappeared.

Preoccupied with his sister, Naruto also couldn't care less about him back then so Rupert just faded off from everyone's radar. He holed himself into an apartment, not going out to even get food from the supermarket, only ordering for it to come at his home.

But now, he was in Naruto's house, in the living room, holding an envelope to his chest with both of his hands.

"Um, are you going to show us what you've found?" Naruto asked.

Rupert extended a shaky arm and Naruto grabbed the envelope. But when he pulled it, he realized that the fatty was not letting go of it.

"What are you doing?"

"I-" Rupert began but quieted down instantly when he looked at Naruto's face.

"If money it's what you're worried about, relax. I am a man of my word. I will give you the sum we have agreed upon."

"But I don't want any money! What I want is..."

"Yes? What do you want if not money?" Naruto questioned with a raised eyebrow. The information Rupert had dug out for them about the League Shadows was not easy to come by. Normally, if Rupert were to sell it to an interested party, it would be worth a fortune. After all, he had had to hack into the CIA's classified database. He didn't know what else could Rupert want from him in exchange for it. Sure, Naruto could simply take it by force - nobody would be able to stop him. But, while he had many flaws, he was not a scumbag. He wanted this to be a fair trade for both of the parties involved.

"I am tired of living in fear. I don't want to be holed up all the time in some secret place. I want to live my life in peace. I want to be safe... I want to go to McDonald's and gorge myself with chicken wings and hotdogs without having to look behind me, afraid of who might be following me." Rupert said passionately, making Naruto sweat-drop at the last part.

"And you're telling me this because?"

Rupert's beady eyes widened at him.

"Don't you realize who are you? You're like the frigging Boogie-Man! Even the worst of the metahuman criminals are afraid of you! Just being next to you would ensure the fact that nobody would dare to make a move against me."

With one of his eyes slightly opened, Kyuubi observed the entire situation.

 _'First, it was Galatea. A super powered alien with god-like powers. Now, it's a genius information broker. Batman was drastically influenced by him too...the brat doesn't realize it, but even in this life, despite his cruel and frightening persona, he still keeps attracting people to him. Soon, he will find himself surrounded by unique individuals once again.'_ the fox thought to himself in mild amusement.

 _Scene break_

The information Rupert obtained by hacking into the CIA's database was surprisingly bountiful. There wasn't much information in regards to the past and the history of the League of Shadows, but there was a rather lengthy list of names of the persons that fell at their hands. The most recent ones were a Russian geneticist doctor and his wife.

One thing was clear for Naruto: for some reason, his grandfather, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the leader of the League of Shadows, was targeting the Russian Federation. And, at the rate things were going, the large nation would fall on its knees soon.

The president was assassinated weeks ago together with his family and after that many other key figures followed him to the grave as well: renowned doctors, important politicians even some judges. In the wake of the current events, many of the people in important positions fled the country, hoping to escape the invisible death god that was haunting them all.

As Naruto went through the files, Kyuubi was perched on his shoulder, paying close attention to them as well. Much more than Naruto and probably just as much as Galatea, Kyuubi truly wanted to find out Uchiha Itachi's location. The fox's hate for Sharingan was ingrained in his soul. Although a mere Sharingan could not control a bijuu, the Mangekyo could. And Kyuubi didn't want to leave any chance for that to ever happen again. He was going to kill the Uchiha no matter the cost. For Kyuubi, that was a matter concerning his very survival.

Eventually, Kyuubi broke the silence.

 **"Naruto."**

"Yes?" Naruto replied, not really paying attention to him.

 **"I think I know why is the old monkey targeting Russia..."**

 **"I think it's finaly the time I told you about your parents."**

If Naruto was not really paying attention to Kyuubi before, at those words, he dropped the papers in his hands startled.

* * *

AN: It's not really a cliffhanger as most of you prolly remember how Kyuubi came to be in DC world and Mito and Hashirama's fate in this fic. At any rate, even if you missed these details, everything will be made clear in the next chapter.

I hope you liked the way Batman reacted to Talia's appearance and his attitude towards Catwoman. Not-so-secretly, I hope you liked the chapter :D

Till next time, cheers!

 _(I'm not an English native and I do not work with a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	37. Chapter 37 - Out of control

AN: Do understand please that I have nothing against Russia in particular in real life. I actually had 2 co-workers this summer (a guy and a girl) that were half-Russian and we got along well. That said, what happens in this story does not reflect the reality of my feelings about real places/people. Saying this to prevent a potential shitstorm later on (talking from experience after all)

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 37 - Out of control**

"When I first awakened in this world, I was in a teenager Mito Uzumaki's belly. It took us many years to reach a common accord but eventually we did. And while she didn't have the chance to discover the power of chakra in time - she was older than 15 by the time we properly "met" – having me living inside of her had not come without any benefits for her. She gained access to my Negative Emotions Sensing, her physical capabilities increased well above those of an average human and her self regeneration became formidable."

Kyuubi flexed his paws and stretched as he made a small break from talking. Then, he jumped into Naruto's lap and curled himself into a ball of fur. Somewhat lazily, he started to speak again:

"Mito and Hashirama were both rather important figures on the Martial Arts international scene. But Mito never remembered the memories of her past life because we never shared our chakra like I did with your when you were about to drown your sorry ass in Gotham's river."

Naruto lightly pulled at the fox's ears when he heard his comment but Kyuubi didn't lose his smirk.

"Mito didn't realize what would happen if someone got wind of her superhuman abilities... You have to understand, Naruto, that, back then, there were no metahumans. At the very least, the public was not aware of their existence."

"Against my advice, Mito began using her newfound powers against other competitors in the various world championships fighting tournaments. Her overwhelming victories attracted a lot of attention. And THAT'S when it all started!"

"Since metahumans were so rare at the beginning, the scientists all over the world went crazy over finding out the secret behind their superhuman powers. Backed by the governments of their countries, countless metahumans along the years were captured and researched on...of which Mito ended up as one too. It goes without saying that Hashirama was 'silenced' in the process as well."

Naruto sighed. It looked like no matter which life, misfortune seemed to follow his clan - not only him and his sister but Mito Uzumaki as well and (he suspected) his mother too.

"But where does my grandpa fit in all of this?"

"He was Hashirama's disciple. They were close enough to think about each other almost as father and son."

"Are you saying that he faked his death, took control of an international terrorist organisation, assassinated the president of a country and plans on destroying it - all this for revenge?"

Kyuubi snorted.

"How is what he's doing any different from what you did? Have your forgotten how many people you killed in Arkham Asylum?"

Naruto couldn't find any words to reply at that. It seemed that the saying about the apple not falling off too far from the tree was true. Him and his grandpa were the same. Except that the magnitude of Sarutobi's hate was way, way beyond his.

Eventually, he said:

"There's still one thing I do not know and the old man never wanted to tell me about it - both Misaki and I have known from the beginning that he was not blood-related to us. Why did he take us in?"

Kyuubi looked like he was rather uncomfortable to speak about that subject.

"Before Mito Uzumaki died from all the tests she had suffered, the scientists researching her genetics started to look for other people sharing similarities in their DNA. More than 20 individuals were found in Japan and on the Eastern coast of Russia. Among them was also your mother, Kushina, only a baby back then. That she had the same surname as Mito only cemented her fate."

"Once Mito died, I...

"...I obviously chose my next host in order to survive – Kushina... Funny how history repeated itself in one way."

As Kyuubi spoke, Naruto anger was slowly accumulated as he could tell before Kyuubi said it what happened to his mother. The chakra in his body was slowly becoming restless and Kyuubi cautiously jumped off from Naruto's lap when he felt the tips of his fur stand on their end from the small amounts of static energy Naruto began to unconsciously emit.

"So my mother was raised like a lab rat because of you?" Naruto asked dangerously.

Kyuubi narrowed his eyes at him, his body tensing up. That was the very reason why he had refused to tell Naruto about his parents' past until then despite how many times Naruto asked him. Because Kyuubi knew just how explosive Naruto's temper was and how exaggerated his reactions could be when he let himself ruled by his anger. After all, the man in question had slaughtered over 100 people in Arkham Asylum and tortured someone to death for the sake of his revenge...

"Were you not listening to my words? Kushina was brought in before I even chose her as my next host."

"Besides, even if that wasn't the case, what are you going to do about it?" Kyuubi asked, his voice taking on a dangerous edge towards the end.

The two were already on their feet, looking into each other's eyes. A thick killing intent loomed in the air and tiny snake-like threads of black lightning started to run across Naruto's body.

It was in that moment that the door was opened and Galatea, who was about to enter the living room, staggered back startled when the massive killing intent hit her without warning.

Kyuubi felt his very skin crawling and a sense of dread enveloped him. Being on the receiving end of Naruto's killing intent made him understand even better what a dreadful murderer Naruto had become at his core.

When the demonic fox was about to morph into his gigantic size and prepare to battle for real, Naruto spat out a long sigh. The monstrous killing intent from before disappeared without a trace and the lightning returned into his body.

"I'm sorry." Naruto said, greatly baffling Kyuubi.

Seeing the fox looking at him as though he had grown another head, he continued.

"You helped me a lot in this life. Without you, I would've died many times until now... on the Prison Island you even willingly shielded me with your own being, despite knowing that you could have died."

"Even if my mother's tragic fate had been your fault, after all the good you did for me, the scales would have still been tipped in your favour."

Then, Naruto let himself on one knee to get to Kyuubi's level and extended his fist in front of him.

Kyuubi's eyes widened visibly. He knew what Naruto's gesture meant. It was something that they had done only once, in their previous life, before their fight against the godly Uchiha Madara: a fist-bump... but they both knew that that gesture meant so much more than that! The two of them had fist-bumped back then as a symbol of their complete trust in each other. A symbol of companionship... A symbol of friendship.

The fox bumped Naruto's extended fist with his tiny paw. A small sniff was heard. It was from Kyuubi. But before Naruto could comment on it, only a soft twinge of smoke was left behind as the fox disappeared in a ball of flames.

Kyuubi had used his own version of shunshin to teleport away.

 _Scene break_

A wide, circular room. Exquisite paintings with golden frames adorned the walls and in the middle of the room, a pyramid made of marble was erected. On its tip, the golden eye of the Ancient Egyptian god Ra was encrusted with gold and lights were set to expose and outline its grand architecture.

Towards the back of the room was a semi-circular table with 6 seats. Six persons seated on them. But aside from their height and built, one could not distinguish any of their physical feature, not even their gender - all of them were wearing a hooded black cloak to obscure their identity.

Suddenly, the door of the room was opened and 2 men entered. Had Naruto been there he would have recognized them right away - they were none other than Sarutobi Hiruzen and Uchiha Itachi.

The two of them stopped right in front of the pyramid. They couldn't get even a glimpse of the 6 people sitting on the other side of the room because their cloaked hoods and the lighting in the room prevented them from being exposed.

"Why have you summoned me here, today?" Sarutobi asked, not beating around the bush. His voice made it clear for them that he didn't really put them in his eyes.

"Impudent!" one of the 6 people said, his voice sounding terrible because of the voice-distorting device they were all wearing.

Sarutobi's face was impassable.

"Your actions have caused a major disturbance in our plans. Your task had been only to assassinate the president of the Russian Federation. Not to start killing all the scientists and the important figures of the country!"

Another one chose to spoke in that moment:

"We know everything about you, Sarutobi Hiruzen. And we know why you acted the way you did. But you should not let yourself be driven by your emotions. What we do is way bigger than you or even ourselves. What we do is more important than your petty revenge."

Sarutobi's old and wrinkled face was suddenly twisted by a cold smile.

"You know everything about me? ...You know nothing!"

"Otherwise, you would have known that I am nothing like Ra's al Ghul."

"I am not your obedient dog. And you cannot control me."

No sooner than his words ended, over 20 masked men appeared seemingly out of nowhere and encircled him and Uchiha Itachi! They had been in the room from the beginning - they were metahumans that shared one of Rupert Jones abilities: that of becoming invisible. They were groomed and trained from an early age to serve as the bodyguards of the 6 black-robbed people.

However, the 6 of them did not realize that not even a hint of distressed appeared on Sarutobi and Uchiha's faces. Sarutobi still wore a cold smile while the latter's face was as expressionless as ever.

"Do not worry. We will let you walk away alive today. You are still useful to us and we would like it if you didn't back away from our deal." one of the 6 people said.

"You'd do well to reconsider your options, Sarutobi." one of the six said, not even the voice-distorting device he was wearing managing to disguise the gloating in his tone.

The metahumans that were surrounding them parted and Sarutobi Hiruzen and Uchiha Itachi proceeded to leave the room, without as much as a farewell.

Once they were alone again, one of 6 asked the others:

"Are you sure it was a wise idea to let him go? I'm 100% certain that he will ruin everything that we have so meticulously built if we just let him be."

A short chuckle came from another one.

"Of course he will. But he won't have the chance. The Justice League will do the dirty job for us."

"You mean that...?"

As to confirm the other one's question he dialled a number and started speaking:

"Ms. Waller?"

"..."

"Yes. Proceed as we have talked before. Let the Batman know about the League of Shadows' next target - Novaya Zemlya."

Right when he ended the call, the metahumans that were supposed to guard them while being invisible, started to collapse to the floor, one by one.

Noticing the white foam at their mouths, one of the 6 black-robbed people shouted in urgency:

"Hold your breath! Poi...son...!"

But he couldn't finish his words properly as he also fell down, white foam bubbling out of his mouth. None of them survived.

The culprit had been one of the metahumans that could turn invisible - he had been under a genjutsu from the moment he first met Uchiha Itachi's red eyes.

It had been a premeditated move. Sarutobi had known from the beginning that the 6 black robbed people were guarded by invisible metahumans. And he had also known that one of the invisible metahumans possessed a special constitution - that of being able to freely control poison. He was their group's secret ace because his 2 superhuman abilities allowed him to become a terrible killing weapon: nearly impossible to detect and nearly impossible to evade – the perfect assassin... but who would've thought that one day he would be mind-controlled and used against them in that manner? Who could have thought that it would take one mere glance in an Uchiha's eyes for them all to die?

 _Scene break_

Batman's eyes continued to be sharp even as his face took on a pondering expression.

 _'Something is definitely wrong here.'_

Having just received a phone call from none other than Amanda Waller, his brain was working now in overdrive to determine the reason why his instinct was warning him.

 _'I've always known that that woman was way more important than her apparent position shows her to be...but even if she is a part of the upper echelon that seems to secretly lead the USA, how in the world did they manage to infiltrate the League of Shadows' ranks?'_

Having been a member of that organisation in the past, Batman knew better than anyone that it was simply impossible for any spies to infiltrate it.

 _'Unless...the organisation lost its edge since Ra's al Ghul died...'_

But that did not appear to be the case either if the current events were anything to go by. Still, Batman was not known as the "World's Greatest Detective" for nothing. He didn't gain that title thanks to his technology alone: although he found it extremely unprovable, another possibility appeared in his mind - that maybe, just maybe, the League of Shadows was never independent.

 _'That would actually make sense if I think about it now. Regardless of how formidable Ra's al Ghul has been, it seems unlikely that he would have managed to get away from his enemies for centuries had there not been a greater power secretly backing him. The proof to sustain this theory is that now he is dead.'_

' _He did show signs of dementia last time we faced each other so probably his death was due. Once he outlived his usefulness he was taken out.'_

Arriving at this conclusion, the look on his face hardened. He understood that at the end of the day, the League of Shadows had most likely been just a pawn in the hands of those that were leading the entire world from the shadows.

 _'Thalia said that the League of Shadows is no longer what it had been. And that Sarutobi Hiruzen is not abiding by the code of the organisation.'_

He understood then that the higher power wanted Sarutobi eliminated...however...little did Batman or Amanda Waller knew that the 6 great figures that led the world from the shadows, the pinnacle of authority on Earth have all been murdered only minutes before by Sarutobi and Uchiha's deceitful plan.

 _'That means that they intend to use us, the Justice League, to do their dirty work - to take out the new head of the Demon.'_

Although he realized that they were playing in someone else's hands, Batman knew that they didn't really have a choice in this matter. Sarutobi Hiruzen was slowly but steadily on his way to trigger the start of the Third World War if they left him be. And that could not be allowed.

 _'I'm supposed to meet my new son in 2 hours...unfortunately, I'll have to be late. The fate of the Russian Federation is now hanging on a thread and with it, probably that of the entire world as well. The Justice League needs to be notified.'_

* * *

AN: The title refers to the fact that nobody has any real control of the situation right now. "The 6" were killed, Amanda Waller still falsely believes that she is on the winning side and Sarutobi Hiruzen thinks that he had eliminated all the obstacles, not expecting in the least for anything to go wrong. He doesn't know that the League will be waiting for him. After all, nobody can learn of his future plans, if the only persons aware of them are killed...but he doesn't know that those 60 seconds of delay till their death had set him up for one hell of a confrontation.

I hope you liked the chapter. I feel bad for taking so long to come up with a new update. I will try to increase the pace from now on, considering that I have finished with work for this year.

 _(I don't work with a beta and I'm not an English native either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	38. Chapter 38 - One finger

AN:

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 38 - One finger**

 _'Batman has started to call me to meetings quite often as of late.'_ Naruto mused as he jumped from the rooftop of a building to another. This was quickly becoming one of the things that he liked to do the most.

Landing on the rooftop of a particularly tall building, he stopped at its edge and sat down, his legs dangling out. Looking at the world below, a sigh of admiration left his lips as he took in the cityscape spread beneath his feet. Watching Gotham City from above during night was truly a wonder.

A small gale of wind blew as a silhouette landed next to him. It was a woman.

"You seem distracted tonight. Is it because of what Batman's butler said?" she asked rather softly and took a seat on the edge, right next to him.

Only a few minutes ago, Naruto was doing a small routine workout before going to bed - it was night after all. That's when someone called on his cellphone (he had bought one just so he could communicate with his sister when she was away, hanging out with Barbara Gordon). It was Batman. He didn't give many details on the phone. He only told him that he knows what his grandfather's next move going to be and that they will discuss the rest face to face.

Had he found out about the League of Shadows' next move before his conversation with Kyuubi, Naruto would have had no problem to go and face them. But after learning the truth about his parents and what Sarutobi Hirzuen had done for his family, he could no longer bring himself to keep a grudge against him.

Kyuubi told him that Sarutobi had taken his parents out of a secret facility during one of his raids under the League of Shadows' orders. Minato Namikaze, one of the scientists working at the laboratory where Kushina was being held prisoner had fallen in love with the one he was supposed to be researching, at first sight. And Namikaze was the one that helped Sarutobi infiltrate the well guarded laboratory to bring down its defence system. From what Kyuubi told him, apparently, Sarutobi and his team's mission had been to kill all the military personnel in there and capture all the imprisoned metahumans for the League of Shadows. However, in exchange for Minato Namikaze helping him infiltrate the base, Sarutobi let him and Kushina Uzumaki keep their lives and freedom.

But their happiness was not meant to last. After only two years, right after Kushina Uzumaki had given birth to Naruto, the Russian government reached them. Minato was just a scientist and Kushina was only an ordinary woman because after witnessing Mito's fate, Kyuubi had decided against making his presence known to Kushina. That said, the two of them never stood a chance against the team of trained special agents that the Russian Secret Services had sent after them. They were killed and Naruto and Misaki Uzumaki were taken away.

It could be called fate that only a few months later, Sarutobi happened to raid another laboratory...the very laboratory where the little Uzumaki siblings were being held...

Now that he knew the truth, Naruto couldn't hold any kind of ill feelings for the old man. Sarutobi Hiruzen had saved both his, his parents' and his sister's lives more than once. And, if that was not enough, he had taken it upon himself to raise orphaned siblings until they grew up, while he was not even blood related to them. Furthermore, Sarutobi had never expected for anything in exchange. He had never sought any reward for what he had done for them.

 _'However, Kyuubi will obviously not stay put. His hate for the Sharingan has not diminished in the least... He will definitely jump at the chance of exterminating the Uchiha from this world.'_

A frown marred his face. Everything would have been so much simpler for him had he not known the truth. If he had not known what Sarutobi Hiruzen had really done for him and his family, Naurto would have been able to simply wash off his hands in regards to Sarutobi's fate. But now, he couldn't. Naruto had many flaws and he was very from the definition of a good person. But he was not ungrateful. And the least he could do was to not go against him. Either way, in Naruto's mind, there was literally no chance for the League of Shadows to survive in the upcoming confrontation anyway. There was no need for him to butt in.

 _'They will be up against the entire Justice League. And, as to cement their fate, two other monsters are most likely going join in the frame as well - Kyuubi and Galatea."_

"Naruto?" Galatea called out when she didn't receive an answer, breaking him from his train of thought.

"Yes? Yes... I guess I am." he said, rubbing his face with both of his palms for a moment. However, hearing Galatea expressing her concern for him involuntarily made him smile.

"What are you going to do?" he asked. It wasn't like he didn't know beforehand what her answer was going to be. It was just to make conversation.

Galatea let herself fall with her back on the concrete floor, her eyes pinned to the starry sky as she said:

"It goes without saying that I will be there. If Batman really knows what is their next objective, I don't wanna miss it. Although the chance for Uchiha Itachi to actually be there is not big - I presume that that organisation has hundreds or even thousands of members - I am not losing anything by going."

Not wanting to be with his back to her, Naruto also let himself fall on his back, next to Galatea.

"Figures... I want to ask you one thing though. If you do encounter my old man, please do not hurt him."

Galatea turned her head to the side to look at him as if she was searching for something in his eyes.

"Do you realize what are you asking me for? You want me to protect the person that is about to single-handedly start the 3rd World War?"

Naruto sighed. Certainly, that would be a very unreasonable thing to ask from her.

"I didn't ask you to protect him... just to not hurt him."

Galatea turned her head back to the sky.

"Why? Didn't he abandon you and your sister? From what I understand, it was his disappearance that triggered all the problems that flooded your live until now."

Naruto did not answer right away.

"That may have been the case...but he had done so much more for us...much more than I would've thought possible. I only recently found out about that."

Galatea exhaled loudly, the steam that came out of her mouth dissipating in the cold air of winter night.

"Don't worry, I give you my word: if he doesn't get in my way, I will not harm him. But I will not let anybody stop me."

None of them spoke for a while, both thinking about the following day.

"What are you going to do after that?" Naruto suddenly broke the silence. There was a strange tint of bashfulness hidden in his tone as he asked that question. He finally realized that, by laying so close next to each other, the two of them have unknowingly created a rather intimate moment.

"Are you asking me if I am going to come back to you?" Galatea asked, her lips curling into a smile towards the end.

Naruto could feel his face becoming warm but he didn't chicken out.

"Yes." he said quietly. "I would like to know you better. To know you outside of just fighting, like...I don't know...like normal people."

It was Galatea's turn to have a blush dye her face red this time around. A knot suddenly appeared in her stomach, not having expected Naruto to actually voice out his interest for her that openly. And, although she reckoned that her face must have been burning in embarrassment, she spoke:

"I-, I would like that too... to know you better."

"Then, I'll be waiting for you." Naruto muttered.

"Yes." Galatea said and nodded.

Naruto felt as though electricity suddenly started to course through him (different from his own lightning) when someone took hold of his hand. Obviously, it was Galatea. He turned his face towards her in surprise.

"W-What? Don't look at me!" she stuttered. Even through the darkness of the night, he could see that her face was boiling.

 _'Gaaah! Just what in the world made me do that?!'_ she screamed at herself internally, mortified. She was dying of embarrassment!

She was about to hurriedly retract her hand when...Naruto tightened his own hold on it. She thought that her heart was going to stop! And when his thumb lightly caressed the back of her palm she forgot how to breathe for a moment.

By now, they were both furiously blushing. Neither of them dared to look at the other, afraid of what would his or her reaction going to be at seeing the expression on his/her face. They kept their eyes pinned to the sky, absent-mindedly watching the glittering stars. Despite looking like adults, in that moment, the two of them were feeling like a couple of young teenagers that were falling in love for the first time. With their hearts fluttering, they held each other's hand and watched the sky in silence, for a long while, blissfully unaware of anything around them.

That heavenly moment was broken though when Naruto's cellphone vibrated in the pocket of his jacket. And it was not only him that felt a rush of annoyance at hearing the ringtone, but Galatea as well. She had an urge to take the phone and crumple it into a ball of scrap metal.

Naruto sighed. Taking out his phone, he realized that it was the same number Batman always used to call him. Better said, it was the number that the butler of the Wayne family, Alfred, always used to call him because their meetings were always arranged through the old butler. Bruce Wayne never called him directly as to not make anyone suspicious of anything should they listen on their conversation.

"Yes?"

"Yes, we're on our way. We'll be there in a 5 minutes or so."

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm not alone, Galatea is with me as well. What, is there a problem?"

"OK, see you in a few minutes."

When they sat up and were about to start "walking" again, Galatea stopped him.

"Wait, you got some snow left on your jacket."

Getting behind him, she gently patted his back, taking the snow down. Naruto was just about to turn around and thank her when she suddenly pushed him with both of her hands, hard. As he was falling off the tens of feet tall building screaming, he heard Galatea yelling:

"TAG! YOU'RE IT!"

A burst of chakra stopped his descent abruptly, right before he was about to smash into the street below. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Jeez, are you 3 years old or what?!" he yelled back at her.

 _'Wait, she really is 3 years old!'_ Chuckling to himself, his feet pushed against the ground as he shot explosively into the air after her. Galatea may have had the appearance and the intelligence of a young woman but, sometimes, proofs of her still childish heart were coming out.

 _Scene break_

"Why do I have to go my room!? If I am going to be there tomorrow, we need to make the plan together!"

It was a young boy, around 10 years old with a rather mean expression etched on his face. He had a stature befitting someone his age and he was dressed in black. His short black hair, green eyes and rather round shaped face made it clear that he was related to the man standing in front of him - Bruce Wayne. He was his son, Damian Wayne.

"We? Who said anything about you coming along tomorrow?"

"Look, I am not a kid! I was trained from birth to become the greatest assassin ever! I can take on anyone!"

Bruce Wayne looked towards Talia al Ghul with a expression that was clearly asking her to control her son. But the woman pretended to not understand.

"Listen up, kid." Batman said, ignoring the growl the came from the boy at being called a 'kid'. "You are out of your league. Even _**I**_ am outclassed by what happens around me most of the time. I am an ordinary human, I have no superpowers, no super-reflexes and no super intelligence. It is only the technology and my **experience** that allows me to keep up with all the superpowered metahumans... experience that you do not have."

"Then how am I supposed to get that experience if I will always have to stay in my room?"

Bruce Wayne was quickly loosing his patience. Although he was approaching his middle age, he didn't have any kind of experience with kids. He had not had many chances to interact with them, especially not with kids as hard-headed and stubborn as his son was proving to be.

"There will be other opportunities in the future for you to gain experience. Occasions where it won't be the fate of the entire world at stake. This isn't a moment where a kid can come and play the superhero or the ultimate assassin as you believe yourself to be."

"Two very important guests are about to arrive so go to your room. Now!"

At his father's words, Damian could not look any less aggravated than he was currently. With a deep scowl on his face, he left the room, slamming the door hard behind him.

"What did you do for him to grow up like that?" Batman asked.

Talia al Ghul narrowed her eyes at him.

"What is that supposed to mean? I raised him to be the perfect warrior, the best assassin!" she replied sharply.

"What I see is not that. I only see a bratty and spoiled kid, who doesn't want to listen to a thing his father says."

"What did you expect? Today is the first time he saw you. You've never been in his life until now, of course he wouldn't listen to what you say."

"And who is to blame for that? I didn't even know I had a son!" Batman shouted back at her. "You were the one that kept me in the dark. And now that you're in dire straits, you came here and dumped him on my lap - _'Bruce, this is your son'_. If it weren't for the current situation, you would have probably never even told me about his existence!"

At his words, Talia al Ghul kept silent. She knew that he was right. Moreover, she really depended on him so there was no meaning in antagonising him any further.

It was then that the doorbell rang - Naruto and Galatea arrived.

 _Scene break_

"Che! Treating me as kid! I have more kills on my belt than most people twice my age. Who the hell does he take me for?" Damian Wayne muttered angrily to himself.

A thought bloomed in his mind:

 _'Uzumaki Naruto is supposed to come soon. The man that has tortured the Joker to death, all the while streaming himself over the entire country. There's also a rumour that he may have managed to defeat Superman and the Flash too.'_

He smirked.

 _'Then, I'll take this chance to prove him what I am capable of! I'm going to kick this Uzumaki's ass big time. When father see that I took out someone as dangerous as him, he won't question my abilities anymore.'_

Taking a sword from his luggage (he only recently arrived so he did not have the time to unpack yet), he strapped it on his back. He also filled his utility belt's pockets with shurikens and even some poisoned darts.

 _'Just you wait, father. I'm going to blow your mind away!'_

With that thought in mind, Damian rushed along the corridors, towards the entrance door of the manor. When he reached the entrance hall, his eyes fell on the visitors.

A man over 6 feet tall, packed with muscles. He looked almost like a body builder. He had spiky blonde hair that fell nearly to his chin and the odd thing about his appearance was that 3 pairs of whisker-like scars marred his cheeks. He was dressed like an ordinary person - a pair of black boots, some dark blue jeans and a green, hooded parka jacket - but despite his ordinary outfit, there was an aura of dominance around him that was impossible not to notice.

As for the other person, it was a woman. She was only a few inches shorter than her companion but just as eye catching, if not more. Although he was still very young, even Damian Wayne could recognize that she had a beauty above any other woman that he had ever seen before. But that was not what occupied his mind. What did was the fact that he recognized her as the infamous clone of Supergirl. From the data that he had read about her, she was supposed to be even stronger than the "original".

The first impression the boy got from seeing them was that they were unmistakably powerful. However, when he thought about how his father 'disregarded' him as a kid, all thought of retreat disappeared from his mind.

With a burst of speed unexpected from someone of his age, the boy covered the few meters between them in the blink of an eye.

"Out of the way, old man!" Damian screamed in mid-air and drew out his sword in a vertical slash, seemingly uncaring of whether Alfred would have enough time to dodge it or not.

 _Scene Break_

It took them a bit longer than 5 minutes to reach the manor because of their little game of tag, but they weren't late by much. On a side note, Naruto was still it, not having managed to catch her.

After ringing the doorbell, Alfred's amiable face appeared from behind the door.

"Good evening and welcome! Master Bruce has been waiting for you!"

"Good evening and thank you, sorry for being late." Galatea replied, returning his polite greeting in the same fashion.

The butler opened the door wide for them to enter and, after closing it, he took Galatea's coat and Naruto's parka and put them in the coat hanger. Then, he invited them to follow him towards the guest room. It was in that moment that a loud cry was heard from the other end of the corridor and someone rushed towards them aggressively:

"Out of the way, old man!"

However, Alfred had not been prepared to be assaulted in his own home, and clearly, not by the son of his master, with a sword. He was too late to react. He didn't have the time to dodge it. But Damian did not stop his slash.

Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously and his hand shot forward.

For a moment, everything was still as if they were all frozen. Then Alfred gulped nervously - the blade of the sword was only 2 inches away from cleaving through his shoulder! What had stopped it from doing just that? Naruto had caught the blade in 2 fingers!

"What is the meaning of this, boy?" he asked dangerously.

Damian Wayne could not believe his eyes. A swing of the sword in which he had put his entire strength, was casually stopped by the man in front of him with only 2 fingers! He grunted in exertion as he tried to wring away his weapon from Naruto's grasp, but it did not budge in the slightest, no matter how hard he pulled. Then, a reverberating sound of a metal breaking was heard as, with just a twist of Naruto's fingers, the fine blade was snapped in half!

Although petrified at the display of power for a split second, Damian shot forward with a high kick towards Naruto's jaw. However, the boy miscalculated something. He was so short that one of Naruto's arms was almost as long as how tall his entire body was. Damian's kick never had a chance to connect with its target and he suddenly found himself in a choke hold. Even then, the boy didn't give up; pulling out a knife from his boots, he decisively stabbed it into Naruto's arm, intent on escaping from his hold. But the next moment, his own hand became numb and the knife dropped on the floor with a clatter - for boy, it had felt as if he had tried to stab into concrete, not into someone's flesh.

"Kid or not, you better stop this nonsense or I'll snap your neck like that of a chicken."

If his words would not have effect on the boy, the short burst of killing intent that leaked from Naruto definitely did. Damian's body became still as though he had been paralyzed.

It was a rather low level technique from his past life that could be performed even by Genins if they trained in it hard enough but was generally used only by exceptional shinobi like the Anbu or by individuals with very powerful killing intent. The reason for that was that these types of shinobi did not even need to make hand-seals for it, they could cast it simply by looking into their victims' eyes. The name of this technique was Kanashibari no Justus and, at some point in his past life, Naruto had also gotten to experience it on his own skin due to Orochimaru. One look into the Snake Sanin's eyes and his young self was rendered paralyzed for a few good moments, as though he had been bound with invisible ropes of steel.

"Mister Uzumaki, please put him down. He is Master Bruce's son." Alfred said awkwardly when he recovered from his near death experience.

"Huh, didn't know Batman had a son." Naruto said and threw the boy roughly on the floor. "And certainly, I didn't expect for him to be such an idiot."

Damian coughed, his eyes tearing up involuntarily from having been choked so hard. When he heard Naruto's words though, the blood rushed to his head:

"What did you say?! You just caught me off-guard. Give me my sword back and I'll hack that grin off your face!" the boy yelled in anger.

Naruto's smile widened at the sight.

 _'Ah he reminds me of how dumb I used to be when I was a child in my past life!'_ Naruto said to himself and chuckled when he remembered the moment when he challenged Tsuande Senju to a fight. It was in the evening of the day when they met from the first time - he could still vividly recall his humiliating defeat back then and Tsuande's words before pummeling him into the ground - _"With one finger. This is enough to take you down."._ And true to her words, the soon to be 5th Hokage sent him spiralling through the air by simply flicking his forehead. Had it not been for his constitution as an Uzumaki jinchuuriki that mere flick on his forehead would have probably cracked his skull.

An idea came to him mind. An idea that made him almost outright start laughing. He kicked the remains of the sword back to Damian and stepped forward, while extending his arm, showing him his forefinger.

"Come boy. With one finger. This is enough to take you down."

Alfred was about to intervene between the two of them for the sake of Damian but then, someone grabbed him from the shoulder. It was Bruce Wayne, who had also arrived at the scene in the meantime.

"Let them be. Damian needs to be brought down a notch. And unless he gets to feel it on his own skin, he won't believe it."

The boy in question did not notice his father's arrival. Blinded by anger, he grabbed what was left of his sword and plunged towards Naruto with a yell, slashing diagonally in front of him, as to make it impossible for his opponent to dodge it in the narrow space of the corridor.

Damian Wayne did not even see how it happened: one moment, Naruto was more than 12 feet away from him but in the next one, it was like the tall blonde had teleported right in front of him! His sword was still in full swing, when he felt as if someone shot him in the forehead. The boy was flung backwards violently, as though he had been hit by a truck! His body smashed into the wall at the end of the corridor and blood began to pour from the spot where Naruto's finger flicked him. Right before falling unconscious, he heard the blonde man's amused voice:

"As I promised, I only used 1 finger."

* * *

AN: You can tell how lame I am for gushing like that about my own story, but damn, isn't Galatea simply adorable? :D Now, the ship has finally started to sail a bit faster. It's time to slowly but steadily start developing their relationship. After the League of Shadows arc will end, there will be even more progress.

Also, I laughed myself too as I re-watched the scene where Naruto and Tsunade met for the first time and how she royally kicked his ass without even trying. Did you like how Naruto reenacted that scene with Damian? lol.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know about your opinions (be them good or bad) through a review or a PM. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask me.

 _(I am not an English native and I don't work with a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	39. Chapter 39 - Blooming Love

AN:

"Hello" - normal talking

'Hello' - thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 39 - Blooming Love**

It was rather late when Naruto and Galatea got home - past 11 pm. When he entered the living room, the sight in front of him filled his eyes with warmth: cuddled together, Misaki and Barbara were sleeping soundly, leaning on each other's shoulder and covered with a puffy blanket. In contrast, Kyyubi was curled up and sleeping like a cat on the other side of the couch.

Having gotten the so-called "green light" from the overprotective older brother, Barbara had gone ahead and confessed her real feeling to Misaki. But Naruto's sister, was a bit disturbed. Sarutobi Hiruzen had raised her and Naruto in an "old fashioned" way. While the education she had received at school made her not discriminate against people with a different sexual orientation, Misaki never entertained the thought of becoming one of them.

Even so, she did realize that what she and Barbara had together was definitely something more than special. Because of that, she told her that while she was not ready for 'that' kind of relationship, because she truly did love her, she was willing to give it a chance, by taking things slow.

Today had been their first official date. The girls did nothing different compared to what they usually did whenever they went out together. But there was a certain something, a particular feeling that drained their energy. The girls knew that by taking that step, there could be only 2 outcomes: either their relationship would deteriorate and they would never be able to go back to how they had been before OR their love would bloom like a flower out of a fantasy.

Drained emotionally but still happy and satisfied with how their date went, the two of them ended their evening by watching a movie and cuddling together, ultimately falling asleep in each other's arms.

Watching them sleep so peacefully made Naruto nearly forget his worries for a while.

 _Scene break_

After taking the sleeping girls and tucking them in Misaki's bed, Naruto went to what became known by then as Galatea's room. Knocking softly on the door, he asked in a subdued voice:

"Galatea, are you there?"

The girl opened the door, and invited him inside:

"Yes, come in."

"Oh, you've already changed into your sleeping clothes." Naruto remarked when he looked at her

"Is that a complaint? And here I thought guys would love to see a girl showing more skin." Galatea joked and smiled in amusement.

The clothes she slept in usually consisted of a white sleeveless tank top that did very little to hide the form of her bountiful chest and a pair of shorts which let her athletic and shapely legs be seen in all their beauty.

In that moment, however, Naruto was too distracted to be able to enjoy the view in front of him. Even Galatea's joke entered through one ear and flew out through the other.

"Ah, it doesn't really matter what clothes you wear. You're always beautiful."

Only after he finished his words, did he realize what he actually said. Distracted as he was when he replied, he ended up saying exactly what was on his mind, unfiltered.

A hint of colour appeared on the girl's white cheeks and Naruto felt his own face warming up.

"I-... that was out of line. Sorry." Naruto said.

"No, it was...nice! Thank you." Galatea mumbled shyly.

A poignant silence followed. They both tried to steal a glance at each other...only for their eyes to meet. A full blown blush rose on their faces and their eyes quickly averted to their feet in embarrassment.

By now, Naruto forgot completely what he had been worried about. It was only after a while of steaming in embarrassment that Galatea could no longer bear with the situation and stammered a few words:

"W-What was that you wanted?"

Her question woken him up from his reverie and his mind finally went back to the matter at hand. In an attempt to smooth the situation up and remove the awkwardness in the air, he dressed his voice and said seriously.

"I need to talk to you about tomorrow. It is very important."

 _Scene break_

"What was so important that we had to come all the way here?"

They were entering the Gotham Woods, a rather large forest located at the outskirts of Gotham City.

"I had to make sure no-one will see or hear what I will show you. What I will share with you, what I will teach you."

"Ever since I heard who was the one Batman got his information from, I had a bad feeling in my gut."

Galatea narrowed her eyes.

"Wait, you think they are planning a trap against you and me? I have superhearing - during the entire time, I did not notice any irregularities in the rhythm of Batman's heartbeats."

"You can do even that..." he mumbled.

"Yeah, my hearing is very sensitive. After 3 years of constant training to control my abilities, I have learned to tune it out but sometimes, when I do not have a conscious control over it, it gets pretty bad. There are mornings when I wake up because of the sound of my own breathing." Galatea said and laughed softly to herself.

"Damn, didn't know you had it that bad." Naruto said in empathy.

"Ah, it's fine, due to my physiology, I don't really need that much sleep anyway."

"Besides, sometimes, I get to hear some very intriguing things. I'm reeealy curious what made you whisper my name this morning..."

"It sounded so passionate!"

Naruto abruptly palmed his face with both of his hands, turned around and knelt of the snow-covered ground.

"...Kill me now! Or I'll dig a hole and bury myself in it!" Naruto said with desperation.

He felt like dying from shame. That morning, he had...relieved himself in the shower. He was a man, it was a biological need. A biological need that was multiplied 10 times over from the moment Galatea had started to live with him. While being in the shower, he had been thinking of her. And she knew it! Her uncontrollable giggling was proof enough. Even in that state, Naruto unconsciously relished in the sound of her laughter. It was so pleasing to his ears. So attractive.

Suddenly, black lightning burst from his body and he jumped up on his feet.

 _'That's it! It's enough!'_ He thought in determination. _'In my past life, for years, I have pestered Sakura to go out with me and I did everything in my power to get her attention, to make her notice me. To get the attention of someone that never did anything but insult me and smack me around...'_

 _'She was not even that good looking... Definitely inferior when compared to others like Ino, Gaara's sister, Princess Koyuki or even more, the Mizukage or Baa-chan. I am not sure even now, why I was gunning after her when even someone as amazingly beautiful as the priestess Shion wanted to have my children...'_

 _'In spite of all that, I've never hesitated to show Sakura my feelings for her. Yet now, when I live with the most beautiful and most powerful woman that I have ever met, I am pussying around?'_

Naruto finally admitted to himself - he no longer tried to deny or to avoid thinking about what he started to feel for Galatea. That's why, when he turned around to face her, his eyes were so filled with conviction that he made the girl involuntarily step back startled.

"Naruto?" Galatea called out in an unsure voice.

 _'Did he finally snap?'_

When she saw the aura of black lightning that was coating his body fade away, she breathed out in relief. But what he did next, made her entire body become still for a moment. He closed in and gently took one of her hands into his own. When he spoke, his words were clear in spite of the thick emotion that flooded his voice.

"No more hiding what I feel about you."

"I'm in love with you."

She was rendered mute with shock. She had just wanted to tease him a bit. Seeing someone as powerful as Naruto becoming embarrassed and acting shy amused her as nothing else. She was finding that part of him extremely endearing. But never did she expect that he would say that kind of words to her. That he was in love with her. The realisation of what was actually happening hit once again. She forgot how to breathe when the "L-word" was said and her stomach twisted, almost making her feel nauseous.

Not waiting to see what her response was going to be, Naruto looked like he wanted to get everything off from his chest in one go.

"You're the most amazing girl I've ever met. I've never felt like this about anyone until now."

"I often find myself not being able to stop think about you and I-"

Whatever he wanted to say next was left unsaid when a pair of lips pressed against his.

"I feel the same too." Galatea said, a wide and filled with happiness smile gracing her face.

Her kiss, her words - it brought him a sense of euphoria like never before. But he didn't want to ruin the moment by acting hastily. Of the same mind, the two leaned into each other, their lips meeting in another kiss. It was longer than the previous and sweeter. Their eyes closed and she brought her arms around his neck, pushing against the back of his head to deepen the kiss. Naruto also found himself tightly embracing the girl to his chest, not being able to think of anything else.

After they parted, touching foreheads, their eyes continued to stay closed still lost in pleasure.

For Galatea, it was the most exhilarating thing that she has ever experienced in her short life. Feeling his body so tightly pressed against hers, his powerful arms wrapped around her back and his lips passionately caressing hers...it was beyond anything she had imagined.

She wanted to feel it more. She needed to feel it again.

"Kiss me... Kiss me more!" She whispered, drunk with pleasure.

The way her hot breath touched his lips and hearing her demanding to be kissed made him lose it. He meshed his lips against her hungrily and he pressed her body even more against his.

It was bliss.

Minutes later would find them in the same place, still in each others' embrace. With her head resting in the crook of his neck and with him lovingly nuzzling her soft hair, they were basking in the newfound feeling of physical intimacy, lost in a world of their own.

Naruto was happy. The happiest he had ever been in both of his lives combined. He wanted this to never end. This happiness - he decided that he would treasure it regardless of the costs. It was when he reached this conclusion that he finally remembered the reason why he had brought Galatea all the way into the forest, in the middle of the night.

 _Scene break_

"Is this really necessary? I have a hard time getting a grasp of this energy inside my body." Galatea said, her voice sounding almost like a whine.

Galatea never whining - Naruto had never seen her doing that before. But now she could not keep herself collected. She had just kissed someone for the first time and it was the most wonderful feeling she had experienced in her entire life. She had been passionately kissed and embraced by someone whom she admired, by someone to whom she felt an incredible attraction. What she wanted at that moment was to explore those new feelings and experience again that thrilling sensation from before.

"This isn't going anywhere...Galatea, please focus!"

An annoyed groan came from the girl.

"Do you have any idea how awkward this pose makes me feel? What's with this stupid positioning of my fingers..."

"That's called a hand-seal. It would greatly help you control and feel the flow of the chakra in your body - if you tried to at least focus that is."

But his explanation did not make her any more willing to just go with it.

"Look Naruto, my heat beams are impossible to dodge unless you have reflexes faster than the speed of light. If he as much as tries to look me in the eyes, I'll fry his brain in an instant."

"We both know that the trajectory of your heat beams is not hard to predict - thus not hard to dodge if someone jumps in advance." Naruto retorted, only for her to scoff.

He sighed. Coming closer to Galatea, he took her right hand in his and kissed it. It was unexpected. It was such an innocent and gentle gesture that the girl found her face flushing without being able to control herself.

"Trust me, I understand what you feel right now. Just like you, I'd like nothing more than to spend the rest of the night holding you like this."

"Then why don't you-"

"Because I want you to be safe!" he interrupted her.

"I'm not a damsel in distress, Naruto." She began, only for Naruto to cut her off once more:

"I know that you are powerful. And I know that considering your strength, chakra won't really give you much more power - you can even shatter cliffs with our bare hands. As for ninjutsu, it would be kind of useless considering that your heat beams are superior in both power and speed."

"However, this Uchiha Itachi was feared worldwide because of his ability to ensnare others with his illusions. When he reached the peak of his shinobi career, he could trap someone into an illusion in which he would torture his victim's mind for 72 hours while not even 2 seconds were passing in real life. And he could do that instantly, with just one look in their eyes."

"This isn't about physical power."

Naruto continued.

"I have no doubt that you could ultimately win regardless of what he would throw at you but the problem is that there will be dozens of other superheroes there. You'll be surrounded by enemies from all sides. Why not spend merely 15 minutes to eliminate what could prove to be a fatal risk?"

Normally, Naruto would have not had a second thought about the outcome of a clash between Galatea and the League of Shadows. However, ever since he heard who was the one that had provided Batman with the information concerning the Demon's next move, Naruto has not been able to shake off the feeling that something horrible was going to happen. His instincts were warning him of mortal danger in regards to the following day - which was vexing and worrying him. Just who in the world could possibly endanger his life?

 _'It sounds arrogant as heck for me to say it myself, but currently, there is no-one capable enough to threaten my life except for Galatea and Kyuubi. Then what about anyone acting against a team consisting of Kyuubi, Galatea and I? To attack such a team would mean suicide for anyone, regardless of their identity.'_

Despite his logical thoughts on the matter, deep down, there was a sense of dread stabbing at his heart. It was because of this feeling that he decided to teach Galatea how to control her chakra - only to make her capable of dispelling genjutsus. After all, as he had just told her, anything else would be not so useful. Because all the powerful techniques from his past were either the result of years and years of hard work, or they were abilities granted by a kekkei genkai. On such short notice, there was not anything else he could do to prepare her for tomorrow. There was not enough time.

Hearing Naruto's reasoning, Galatea stopped being stubborn. With a sigh, she relented:

"Fine, have it your way!"

"Good girl." Naruto praised as if she were a child, making her eyebrows twitch at the subtle jab he made about her age.

For the following few minutes, Galatea stood with her eyes closed and with her fingers posed in a ram seal, concentrating. But she could not sense the energy that was supposed to be dormant within her. She was, however, aware of its existence however because she had felt it coursing through her body when she had fought against Naruto on top of the ocean. Recalling that life and death battle, she finally made the connection:

 _'This energy, I felt it whenever Naruto's black lightning had tried to incinerate me. It acted up to protect me, nullifying the lightning's effect!_ '

"Naruto, try to cast your lightning on me!" Galatea suddenly said, only for him to look at her in doubt. While he knew that his lightning could no longer harm her after she was submerged in Lazarus Pit, it was still not a pleasant thing for him to use his lightning on the one for whom he held now real feelings. But he did realize what her intention was so he complied with her request despite his reluctance.

Coating only his right hand in black lightning, he came behind her.

"Here it goes." He warned and placed his palm on her back gently.

For a few moments, they were both silent.

"I can feel it now." she said, her voice betraying her awe.

"Good. Picture it in your mind the feeling you get when you want to sneeze. When that feeling reaches the climax and 'you' are about to burst in your mind, shout: KAI!"

Naruto was not sure how certified instructors would teach their students to make the first contact with the chakra in their body as he had never been taught how to do it. In his past life it came naturally to him because of Kyuubi (the Academy instructors never really bothered with trying to explain him anything important) while in his current life, it took him nearly a decade of training his martial arts and daily meditation sessions to get a grasp on it.

He was broken out of his musings when a shout reached his ears:

"Kai!"

A massive amount of chakra burst from Galatea's body and Naruto suddenly found himself being propelled through the air and thrown into the distance by the chakra wave, together with all the snow, the twigs and the rocks on the ground around her.

 _'Shit! Didn't expect her to do it from the first try. And what the heck is with that chakra?!'_

Normally, after passing the age of 15, one would become unable to even interact with chakra due to his coils and meridians having reached maturity. Naruto only tried it on Galatea because her body was way above the human standard. And it was also thanks to that fact that her chakra pool was incredibly large.

"I did it!" she yelled excited.

He barely got to lift himself from the place where he had been flung to that he was thrown down again. Face radiating with happiness, Galatea had jumped into his arms and giggled at the sound he made at having the air knocked out of him. Naruto merely looked at her but inwardly, he was amazed how much Galatea changed since they first day they started living together.

Groggily, he lifted himself in a sitting position. Despite wanting initially to bash her back in retaliation, when he took in the image in front of him, his annoyance vanished.

 _'We've only known each other for a few weeks but...man, just how adorable can she be?!'_

Probably because it was not like her to act so enthusiastic about something, at that moment, Naruto was finding her not just beautiful, but cute as hell. Being born in a military facility/laboratory and having been trained from the first week of her creation in all the forms of physical combat known to the military, Galatea's personality had taken the form of a that of a tough, powerful, no-nonsense type of woman. While she did have some small bursts of childish behaviour once in a while - like the spontaneous game of tag the two of them had played earlier that day on their way to Bruce Wayne's manor - Galatea was generally behaving like a serious, mature woman.

In front of him, however, was now a seemingly completely different person. That giddy smile on her face was so innocent and her laughter so pure that he felt his own heart melting. Her baby blue eyes were sparkling with mischief and the faintest blush adorned her face, contrasting with her normally pale white complexion.

He couldn't help himself: grabbing her by the waist, he suddenly pulled her to him. Taken by surprise, a small noise that sounded oddly similar to a squeak escaped from her lips when she found herself landing in his lap.

"Do you have any idea just how cute you are?"

Had he called her "cute" yesterday, she would have felt offended. She was a Kryptonian, a being that had been designed by her 'father' to become the best weapon, the strongest warrior. She was not supposed to be cute! But in that, moment, she was surprised at herself when she felt her own face heating up and her stomach filling with butterflies. She could not understand her own reaction.

Naruto was not aware of it, but him confessing his feelings for her was the figurative battering ram that finally managed to break past the tough exterior she had been keeping up. The playful and beautifully smiling girl in front of him - that was the real Galatea, the one that she had never shown to anyone but her now deceased father.

To her, his confession meant much more than Naruto thought it did. It made her feel accepted. It made her feel wanted and loved. It replaced the void and the pain that the death of Orochimaru had left in her heart with a feeling of hope...with love.

Seeing the radiant blush on her face, Naruto smiled himself too. Just looking at her was enough to fill him with a strange sensation of joy. Embracing her, he gently pushed her body to lean on his chest. She hid her face once again that day in the crook of his neck to hide her embarrassment, making him chuckle lightly. When she also wrapped her arms around his back, a sigh of content came out of his mouth. Placing a loving kiss on the top of her head, he started to run his hand through her silky her hair, softly caressing her.

The cold of the winter night did nothing to bother the two of them. Laying in each other's arms, the time flew without them noticing. It was only Galatea's lack of movement and her regular breathing that made him aware that she had fallen asleep.

His first intention was to sit up and take her home, but he remembered her telling him just how sharp her sense of hearing was. The noise coming from Gotham City's traffic would definitely wake her up.

 _'Guess it can't be helped...'_

Sitting up with her in his arms, Naruto silently went closer to a tree and let himself fall back to the ground, with his back now resting on the trunk of the tree. He could not bring himself to wake her up from her slumber. He decided that he would stay a few more hours, for her to get at least a modicum of sleep. The metamorphosis his body had gone through on the Prison Island after the heavenly tribulation made it so his body way above that of a human anyway - he could no longer get ill or sick even if he wanted to and the massive amount of chakra that his 2 charka hearts pumped every second made it sure that he was nearly immune to cold.

* * *

AN: I bet what you were thinking while you were reading this chapter: "goddamnit FIIIINALY!" haha.

 _(I'm not an English native and I don't work with a beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	40. Chapter 40 - Satan 3

AN:

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 40 - Satan 3**

"I don't wanna wake up! I don't wanna walk!" Galatea whined when Naruto roused her from her sleep. There were still in the middle of the forest.

"You don't need to walk, you can fly."

"You're too comfy to leave!" she groaned, nestling herself deeper into his chest.

Naruto chuckled at her behaviour. In his eyes, she was acting just like a sleepy cat that did not want to leave the comfort of the bed. Except that in the current situation, he was the bed.

"You know we have to go soon. In 4 hours we're supposed to meet Batman to board the jet."

"What's the time now? It's still dark outside."

"That's because it's only 6 am. Come, we need to get ready."

"We don't need to take the jet. I could fly us both there."

"We need to be in our top form when we get there, not tired and winded up from the flying half across the globe. Come on, wake up!" Naruto said and pinched her cheek, stretching it out.

"Stop it!"

But Naruto did not listen, until he yelped. Galatea had sunk her teeth into his right pectoral.

"Ouch! What the hell, did you just bit me?!"

Galatea grinned at him clearly unrepentant.

"You do know that the river is very close, right?"

Galatea's eyes widened.

"Naruto, don't you dare! I swear-"

What she was about to say was left unsaid as they both disappeared from their spot, only a flicker of leaves remaining in their wake. A few moments later, a couple hundred feet away, two bodies hit the river's water with a great splash.

Naruto had shunshined with her, right above the middle of the river.

 _Scene break_

Softly sipping from a hot mug of tea, Naruto was taking a few moments to relax on the couch in the living room. He was alone, in the dark, the only light in the room coming from the fire burning in the hearth.

"Finished with the shower?" hearing a noise, Naruto asked thinking it was Galatea. After their...unexpected dip in the river, they had both had to take a shower to clean and warm themselves up. Being a guy, Naruto obviously took less time than her. When he turned to look behind him though, it wasn't her. It was his sister, Misaki.

"Hey, what are you doing awake at this hour?"

"Morning!" the girl mumbled and let herself fall next to him on the sofa, leaning into him as she did so.

"Go to sleep, sis, it's still not even 7 am. Usually you're not awake before 10."

A quiet yawn came from her mouth, but she shook her head.

"No, I have to tell you something."

He wanted to tell her that it could wait for later, but his mind went back to the bad vibes he had been getting since yesterday. It was completely unlike him to think that way, but he asked himself:

 _'What if there won't be any 'later' for me.'_

He shook his head.

 _'What am I even thinking of...that's ridiculous!'_ He mocked his own thoughts, in an attempt to placate the worry eating at his heart. _'Who could possibly threaten me alone, not to mention when I'm together with Kyuubi and Galatea? Not happening.'_

"Since you woke up so early just to tell me this, it must be important. But, ifit's about your budding relationship with Barbara, you have nothing to worry about. As long as it makes you happy, I have nothing against it."

Misaki lightly scratched her cheek in embarrassment but she said:

"Barbara told me that she went to you first to get the green light. So it's not about that."

"Then?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious.

"Just please listen to me until I finish, promise?"

Getting his nod of confirmation, Misaki continued:

"I want to go to college...I have a new goal now."

"I want to become useful for you."

Seeing Naruto about to interrupt her, she raised her hand.

"Please, you promised to listen till the end."

Now looking down at her crossed fingers, she said:

"For you, nearly 4 years may have passed... but for me it's been only a few months since I saw your in the hospital, bandaged from head to toes after brushing past death."

"You pushed yourself beyond your limits, fighting in a cage against other criminals, just to have enough money to pamper me. To let me continue my old lifestyle. You nearly died for it."

"I was wasting hundreds, sometimes even thousands of dollars every month on useless things and going out every day... I was doing nothing to contribute to our house. I was only being a burden to you. But you never told me anything. You've always just loved me unconditionally."

Misaki felt her eyes misting and she couldn't reign the tremor in her voice as she continued to speak.

"You did so much for me...even the person you have become today is only because of how much you loved me. I don't know anyone who'd be willing to do half of the things you've done for me. I don't deserve it."

Naruto could not hold himself from speaking this time:

"Misaki, what you mean for me is more than you can possibly imagine. No matter what I have to do, it will never be "too much" in my eyes, if it's for your sake."

Tears started to fall from the girl's eyes at his words.

"I want to help you, onii-chan. I want to become useful for you." she said through her sobs. "I want to feel like I deserve at least just a bit of the affection you hold for me."

Naruto sighed as he could see that she was dead serious about her words. He brought her closer to him and hugged her.

"There was one boy..." Naruto started, his own voice thick with emotion. "He was an orphan. His parents were murdered the night he was born. And he grew up alone; no family, no friends. Just one of the many other orphans left in the wake of a catastrophic incident."

"He was infamous in the village where he lived. Disliked and avoided by most people, an outcast. He was raised as a child soldier. He had to learn how to fight, how to kill. He was given a team and trained to become a ninja, an assassin. He quickly grew close to one of his teammates and started to even consider him a brother in his heart... only for said teammate to betray him and try to kill him by stab him right through the chest."

"He managed to survive somehow but although he eventually made other friends later on and received recognition for getting rid of a dangerous terrorist, eventually, a war broke out. All of his loved ones were killed right under his eyes. In the end, he was killed too before he even got to reach adulthood. He was only 16 when he died."

Through the tears filling her eyes, Misaki looked at Naruto in confusion. She didn't understand who was he talking about...and why did it look like he knew said boy personally... She didn't see the connection it might have had with their earlier conversation.

"Now imagine this boy, waking up one day too see that all of what had happened appeared to have been only a bad dream."

His voice broke and a lone tear fell down his scarred cheek.

"Imagine this boy waking up to see that he has grandfather and a sister, someone who loves him. Someone to tuck him in at night and someone to comfort him when he was sad."

"How would this boy feel? To see that after a lifetime of loneliness he finally got a family?"

Misaki didn't know what to say, but his words were making her unable to stop crying. She could feel the emotion in his voice, his feelings.

"After I thought you died, I was desperate. I had lost everything...It was like I lost my soul."

"I jumped in the river... I tried to kill myself." he said, making her choke with a sob. "But Kurama saved me and pulled me out from the bottom of the river."

Cupping her small face face with both of his hands, he looked her in the eye, unashamed of his own tears that were falling freely now.

"Misaki, you are my reason to live."

"You will never be a burden to me. Because I love you. Because you're my family."

Misaki no longer said anything about what she wanted to tell him initially. But as she lay in his arms, her determination became resolute.

Naruto's love for her was overwhelming. She would not be able to live with herself if she did not do anything in return to at least try to reward him for everything he had done for her. She knew that Naruto had enough money to live in luxury without working for 5 lifetimes thanks to the deal that he had made with Lex Luthor. Misaki also knew that he was very powerful. That the ones strong enough to pose a challenge against him could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

 _'In the eyes of the law, however, he is still a criminal.'_ she thought to herself. _'But I am going to change that. This is my new purpose. A goal of a lifetime.'_

 _'I have the financial resources. I have the intellectual potential too.'_

 _'I'm going to change the system!_ _Even if it's the last thing I do, my brother is going to be seen as a hero.'_

 _Scene break_

It was unlike Naruto to shed tears. It was unlike him to express the deepest feelings in his heart so openly and becoming so emotional. And definitely, he had never imagined that he would disclose something of that magnitude to his sister. But the disturbing feelings of mortal danger that loomed over his heart had certainly destabilized him.

Unbeknownst to him, Galatea had also heard everything he said. Despite her tough persona, she found her eyes tearing up too at the interaction between the two siblings. As she wiped a treacherous tear that fell down her cheek, a burning desire was lit in her own heart too. She wanted to become the target of that love. That devotion and the unconditional love that Naruto held for his sister - Galatea wanted one day for him to hold it for her too. She knew in that moment, that what she felt for Naruto was not a fluke nor a puppy love.

While his physical appearance was certainly not undesirable, it was something else that attracted Galatea to him. It was his love. Strange, considering what everyone knew Naruto to be: Uzumaki Naruto was a man that had done atrocious things. He had tortured someone to death, ruthlessly killed even Shazam and had caused one of the cruelest mass murders in the recent times, an incident that went down in written history as "The Arkham Massacre". Ten years from now, children will learn about it in their History class at school.

But at the end of it all, everything that he had done was because of his love for his family and the grief resulted from losing it.

 _'A man that would go to any lengths for the sake of his loved ones. A man that would dare to make the entire world his enemy for the one he loves.'_

When she heard the heartfelt words he said to his sister, in that moment, Galatea knew that no other man would ever get her attention. In her eyes, in her heart, only one person would ever exist.

 _'Someone that would never betray me. Someone that would love me and forever be by my side. There is only one person like that.'_

 _Scene break_

There were 2 hours left before Naruto and Galatea were scheduled to board the Jet from Bruce Wayne's manor and Naruto decided to make full use of them, not waste them waiting around idly.

His sister could walk now for short distances but she was still not fully recovered. After carrying her back to her room and tucking her back in next to the still sleeping Barbara, he kissed her forehead softly and bid her good bye, saying that there was an important matter he had to attend to. He advised her not to worry if it happened for him to not return within 2-3 days.

It was only 8 am when he rang the doorbell outside a manor surrounded by very tall walls and a sturdy black iron gate. It looked like a fortress. On the right concrete pillar supporting the gate, there was a nameplate and the number of the house.

 _ **Inuzuka T.  
No. 25**_

As soon as he ringed the bell, a skin crawling sound came from the iron gate as 5 massive beasts crashed into it and started to howl terribly. Naruto instinctively gulped. It wasn't that he was afraid but he still had his memories of his childhood. As he grew up, the Inuzuka family's bloodthirsty fighting dogs were renowned in Gotham and he had had the chance to see someone being mauled to death by them.

"SHUT UP!" a scream so loud that it covered even the 5 dogs' howls was heard and the beasts quieted down as if muted.

The large iron gate began to automatically slide to the side and a woman appeared in front of his eyes. Before Naruto could even issue a greeting, the she growled at him, a menacing look on her feral-looking face.

"You dare coming here after so many years when you've been acting as if we were strangers?"

Despite what she said, she turned around and began to walk towards her home.

"Get inside already, what are you waiting for? A written invitation?"

Naruto was not alone. He was with Galatea and the girl looked like she was on edge, just about to start punching the woman after seeing how rude she was.

"Naruto, does this woman not realize that she could die before she even had the time to blink if you wished so?" Galatea whispered to him.

Naruto simply shrugged and smiled helplessly at her.

"That's Inuzuka Tsume for you." he muttered but she could see that Naruto did not seem to really mind said woman's behaviour.

They both stepped through the gate and followed her inside, the dogs that were viciously slamming into the gate and howling before, nowhere to be seen now. When they reached the guest room, Mrs. Inuzuka asked:

"It's been what? Three years and a half? No, maybe more... You have not payed us even one visit."

"You know why I couldn't."

The woman glared at him but nodded eventually. After Lex Luthor's death, Naruto had sent her an old-fashioned letter in which he explained her the reason why they couldn't be seen having contact. He made sure however, to express his gratitude once again for how she had saved his life 3 years ago. Not only that, he also sent a generous amount of money to her account.

That said, Mrs. Inuzuka was not really angry at Naruto. It was for her business' safety that Naruto avoided getting in contact with her.

For better or worse, Naruto was an infamous criminal. Winning the fighting tournament for which Lex Luthor had brought him out of the Prison Island had exonerated Naruto of all his crimes. That was deal of the tournament: the winner would get pardoned of whatever crime he committed and be given a 2nd chance to start a new life, while also being awarded an enormous amount of money. (1)

However, due to the public nature of his crimes - Naruto had streamed himself all over the country's television channels as he tortured and killed the Joker, Naruto's past could not be covered up. That's why, while the authorities did not have any grounds to take actions against Naruto, Inuzuka Tsume's partnership with the USA Military (her family had been providing exceptional trained dogs for the military for decades) would have been affected had they been seen together.

"What changed now?" Mrs. Inuzuka asked.

He hesitated for a moment, not sure whether to tell her the truth or not.

"Today I'll be going somewhere. I... I don't know if I'll make it back."

"What?!"

"Naruto?!"

Both women looked at him startled. Galatea had known that Naruto was worried about their upcoming confrontation, but she never thought it was to such extent. Hearing his words, his emotional state in his sisters presence made sense to her now.

"Something tells me I'm heading to my own demise. I cannot explain it. And it doesn't make sense given the strength of our side, but my instincts are screaming at me not to go."

"Then don't go, as simple as that!" Mrs. Inuzuka yelled. "Why would you go if you know you're gonna die?!"

"It's not that simple!" he retorted.

"Cut the bullshit! What's so important that you ca-" the woman started, only for Naruto to cut her off.

"My grandfather is alive."

That certainly silenced Inuzuka Tsume. Of all the things Naruto could have said, she had certainly not expected that.

"Despite what I feel, I have to go..."

"...I cannot let grandpa to his fate after everything he had done for my sister and I."

Mrs. Inuzuka rubbed her forehead in exasperation.

"Whom did you piss off in your past life, kid? From 4 years ago until now, things have only snowballed from worse to worst for you. Can't get a break, can you."

Naruto laughed helplessly. Life truly was not giving him any breaks.

Realizing that if what Naruto was saying was anything to go by, this could be their last time seeing each other, Inuzuka Tsume felt a node appearing in her neck. She decided to change the subject.

"So who's the beauty next to you? Are you in a relationship?"

Naruto felt his face heating up at her words but did not deny it. Looking at Galatea, he still found it hard to believe that a few weeks ago, the two of them had been trying to kill each other.

"Yes. Mrs. Inuzuka, this is Galatea, my girlfriend. Galatea, this is Mrs. Inuzuka. One of the few people that cared about me as I grew up."

From there on, at Galatea's question, Naruto began to recount how they met and become close.

"It all started like 6 or 7 years ago, when her son, Kiba, tried to get into my sister's pants. I beat him up real good and..."

They shared a laugh as Inuzuka Tsume also added how Naruto nearly pissed himself when Kiba returned to school the next day with 4 bloodthirsty dogs and 3 gangsters affiliated to their family to get even.

They spent nearly an hour chatting and having a good time. When it was finally the time for him to go, Naruto said.

"The reason I came here today is to ask something of you."

"I will always be indebted to you and you family for saving my life from the cage back then. I will becoming even more indebted to you for what I am about to ask, but I have nobody else I can trust with this."

"If...if something were to happen and I won't come back..."

"I want you to take care of my sister. Money won't be a problem." he said and handed her over a small envelope from his chest pocket.

"You won't need to be next to her... I only asking you to watch over her. You know just as well as I do how important is to have friends in the so-called 'low places'. Your family is very influential in Gotham's criminal community."

Inuzuka Tsume's head was turned to the side, for him to not see how her eyes teared up.

"Come here, kid." she said, and took him into a hearty hug.

That was Inuzuka Tsume. A rather violent woman with an infamous nasty temper. But despite that, she was kind at heart and she never hid her feelings. She wore her heart on her sleeve, a very direct person.

"Even if you didn't tell me that, I would watch over your sister, out of consideration for you and your old grandfather."

"Thank you, Mrs. Inuzuka."

With that, Naruto sat up and headed towards the entrance door.

"Leaving already?"

"Yes, we have a jet to catch in less than one hour."

Inuzuka Tsume led them to the gate and, as they left her courtyard, she said, her voice rather raspy:

"Don't get yourself killed, boy. I'd like to see you again, when Kiba is around too."

"I'd like that too."

 _Scene break_

"Naruto, you didn't tell me it was that serious." Galatea started when they left Inuzuka Tsume's place.

He didn't answer her right away.

"Talk to me, what happened?"

He sighed.

"It's like I said, I cannot explain it. It's instinct. I just feel it, that something terrible is going to happen."

As they continued to walk, Naruto took her hand in his own. Galatea glanced at him worriedly and tightened her grip on his hand.

"We only have half an hour left. What would you like to do until then?" she asked.

In response, he leaned closer to her face and kissed her.

"I'm perfectly fine with that." Galatea said and smiled, a hint of red coloring her cheeks now.

Wrapping her arms around his neck she pressed her lips to his again, initiating a kiss that made them both close their eyes and forget about the world around them. It was slow but passionate and Naruto found himself tightly embracing her body to his chest like he could not get enough of their intimacy. That intimate moment however, took place in the middle of the side-walk and they were made aware of that when one of the passers-by wolf-whistled at them.

They separated, their breathing heavier than before, but they still kept embracing each other. With their foreheads leaning against the other, Galatea whispered:

"You're worrying for nothing. Everything is gonna be ok, you'll see."

She brought one of her hands to caress the scars on his cheek and pecked him on the lips again, saying:

"You and I together...is there anyone that stands a chance against us?"

"No, there isn't." Naruto replied and smiled at her.

Hand in hand, the two of them continued to make small talk and enjoying each other's company as they walked toward Bruce Wayne's manor.

When they arrived, they didn't ring at the gate, they went directly to the back of the manor where Alfred, Bruce Wayne's butler, was waiting for them next to a small jet on a very small airstrip.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Uzumaki. There was a change in plans and Master Bruce summoned to leave together with the Justice League one hour ago. He had tried to contact you on your phone but you wouldn't answer."

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. It was because of his own mistake that Batman had not been able to reach him on his phone: 4 hours ago, when he pranked Galatea by jumping together with her in the river with a shunshin, the phone was obviously broken by the water.

"Thank you, Mr. Alfred, we'll be on our way." Naruto said hurriedly as he got into the backseat of the 2 person only jet.

Having lived in a military facility her entire life and trained to become the perfect weapon, Galatea was naturally taught how to pilot planes as well. With her capabilities, it didn't take long for her to learn it. That said, she jumped into the front seat - she was going to pilot the jet.

 _'I really hope we're not too late!'_

From New Jersey where Gotham was located, to Novaya Zemlya there were more than 4300 miles (over 7000 km). With a commercial plane, to fly over such a distance would take around 14 hours, while most of the military jets would still need at least 2. But Galatea was amazed to see that the Batman was not known for his cutting-edge technology for nothing. Not even one hour later, they found themselves in the skies above the large deserted island North of Russia.

Knowing the coordinates of the research facility the League of Shadows was going to attack made finding it a very easy task, especially when they could see the dense clouds of black smoke coming from it. Apparently, having arrived one hour before Galatea and Naruto, the Justice League had kept themselves busy.

"Batman is going to be pissed at this but we don't have time to land properly. Just abandon the jet."

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Galatea activated the emergency evacuation and their seats were abruptly ejected from the cockpit. Before the parachutes could even open, Naruto and Galatea broke free of their restraints and let themselves fall freely towards the ground. Flying close to him, she grabbed him when they got close to the ground and landed safely.

They were on the edge of a large hole that had been blown on the lower side of the mountain. Despite the dense curtain of smoke obscuring their sight, they did not hesitate. They were about to jump in when a powerful gale of freezing wind coming from below dispelled the entire smoke and cleared their view. It was none other than Superman. Following him was the rest of the Justice League, all of them carrying other people.

When they noticed Superman abruptly stopping, the others also noticed who was in front of them.

"You...what are you doing here?" Superman asked, his entire posture looking like he was one step from lunging at them.

"I'm not here to fight." Naruto said calmly. "We have a common enemy. I'm here for the League of Shadows."

"How did you even get here?!" Hawkwoman shouted aggressively, her mace cackling with electricity.

"Hawkwoman, stop! We are in no position to fight them right now!" Green Lantern said authoritatively. "There will be too many casualties!"

Hawkwoman gnashed her teeth at his words but relented. He was right. All of them were having their arms literally full, carrying survivors from the collapsed underground facility. Green Lantern had over 50 people inside a bubble created by his power ring, while most of the others were carrying people on their backs or in their arms. Ignoring how tense the situation was, the Flash fully focused his attention on rescuing as many people as possible, his entire being a blur as he rand back and forth, each time coming out with 1 or 2 people in his arms.

"As he said, we are not here to fight against you. But if it comes down to it, you can be sure that what happened on top of the Atlantic a few weeks ago is just a taste of what you are going to experience now." Galatea said indifferently. It was as though she was not even putting them in her eyes.

No sooner than her words ended, Naruto slammed his bloodied palm into the frozen ground and large cloud of white smoke obscured everyone's view. A deep rumble came from within and a demonic voice was heard.

 **"Naruto, have you found the Uchiha?"**

To all of the present people's horror, when the smoke disappeared, an enormous monster that blocked the sun with its sheer size alone appeared. It was over 60 feet tall but those that were still conscious when Naruto had summoned Kyuubi the first time - namely Green Lantern, Hawkwoman and Doctor Fate - knew that the "beast" in front of them was even less than half as large as the first time. They didn't know why but the reason was the amount of chakra Naruto chose to use when he performed the summoning technique. Regardless, the terror it instilled in the present people was not any less. Let alone the Justice League, event the researchers and the captive once hold in the now destroyed military base were as thought they had been petrified.

At the same time, an intense aura of black lightning burst from Naruto's body and the air became saturated with static electricty, making everyone's skin get covered in goosebumps.

"I will ask only once:" Naruto said "where is the League of Shadows?"

Before anyone from the Justice League could do anything stupid, Batman spoke:

"They are down, buried in what's left of the research facility."

Naruto glared at him.

"You mean you just left them for dead?"

A black man wearing a metallic suit resembling Superman's uniform and holding a large hammer in his hand shot back:

"Our priority is to save the life of innocent bystanders, not that of international terrorists and criminals. And certainly, the Justice League does not need to justify its action to some-"

Whatever he wanted to say next would never be known as a deafening roar shook the mountainside and the Green Lantern was forced to create a large protective shield against everyone, lest they were swiped together with the rocks and the snow surrounding them by the powerful gale of wind Kyuubi's below caused.

John Stewart shouted:

"Are you out of your mind? Did you forget what he and that clone did only a few months ago? Why do you go on and provoke them, especially when they have that enormous beast with them? Do you not care about how many innocent lives are you putting in danger?"

Out of everyone present, there was probably nobody who hated Uzumaki Naruto more than Green Lantern did - maybe except for Hawkwoman. However, Green Lantern was a man who had his priorities set straight. He knew exactly what should come on the first place for a hero: it wasn't to beat the bad guy, but to protect the innocent. In his opinion, that was the first and most sacred duty of a hero.

A moment of tense silence followed, before Kyuuby's deep demonic voice broken the stillness.

 **"What are you still waiting for here, humans? Fuck off before I change my mind and devour you all!"**

Screams of panic came from the people that the Justice League had rescued from the facility and the present superheroes themselves looked like they were torn between listening to Kyuubi's words and wanting to start a fight because of his arrogance. It was Superman that had the last word.

"We're leaving. The safety of these people is the most important."

Then, speaking into his earpiece, he called out:

"J'onn bring the airship, we are ready to leave."

He was about to turn back to Naruto to leave a few threats when a particular noise was caught by his super sensitive sense of hearing. When he looked above his head, in the skies above, all color drained from his face.

 _Moscow, Kremlin - 1 hour before_

After the assassination of the president of the Russian Federation and the following attacks on many of the key figures of the country, the government declared a state of emergency. In other words, Martial Law. Currently, the one leading the largest country on Earth was the head figure of the Russian military, Marshal Alexander Makarov. With his installation as the new leading figure of the country, the presidential office within Kremlin suffered a series of changes too, having become the center of all the political and military operations.

"Sir, secret facility Area 27 has been breached. Data received suggests that highly trained military personnel and a number of metahumans have infiltrated the base. Shall we initiate the procedure according to the plan?"

"Not yet." Alexander Makarov replied.

One of the two generals standing by his side couldn't help asking:

"Sir, are you sure we are going through with this? In the wake of this incident, a new World War could be ignited."

Alexander Makrov, a man in his late 70s. His head was completely bald and his face filled with proofs left by the passing of time. Despite that, his blue eyes were still burning with a fierce will and the temperament he exuded was like steel.

"The balance of both political and military power the world has experienced in the past decades had all been thanks to our country and the USA maintaining an equilibrium as the 2 most powerful forces."

"With our president's assassination and the following attacks, the status quo was changed. Russia has lost its initial political sway. Now, signs of unrest have appeared within our borders and with out immediate neighbors too: a revolution for 'recovering' Crimea Peninsula has started in Ukraine, China has started to stealthily deploy military forces towards our Southern Border and even Finland is showing signs of unrest."

"This is a show of power. We have to remind everyone that Russia still is and will always be the greatest military power in the world!"

 _Half an hour before_

One of the many subordinates monitoring the situation called out again:

"Sir, the secret drones we've deployed alerts of a new unidentified airship approaching the base. Visual contact will be established within a few moments."

Just as his words finished, the images played on the large screen made the Marshal's face contort from anger.

 _'The Justice League!'_

But then, an insidious smile made its way on his face.

"This is just great. Killing two birds with only stone... Though, to call this a mere stone is an insult to the genius of the scientists that designed it."

A forced laughter came out of his throat and he rasped.

"It's time. Proceed as planned. It's time for Satan 3 to show the world Russia's might!"

 _Present time_

Noticing the abnormal change in Superman's facial features, Naruto followed his line of sight and looked upwards as well. At the sight of it, he finally understood the reason behind the impending feeling of death that had loomed over him since yesterday.

 _'It's too close... Too close!'_ he thought desperately.

From the moment he saw it, to the moment it was going to hit, only a few seconds would pass.

In that moment, Naruto's eyes became slit, only to enlarge after that until they took the form of a perfect circle, almost covering the iris. The world around him slowed down, to the point where it looked like it had been frozen over. As time stopped, horror came over him when he took in more closely the sight in front of his eyes:

It was a missile.

But not just any missile. It was enormous. Despite how high up it was in the air, his eyes could still perceive its colossal size. And it was only a few miles away but it was moving with such an incredible speed that even in under his modified perception of time - when the time was stopped - the missile was still not completely frozen. It was going to reach them, in less than 3 seconds.

 _'This is it, huh?'_ Naruto thought to himself. _'It seems like my instincts were not lying to me.'_

He was only a few seconds away from dying. However, this time, it was different from when nearly died for the first time. When he had tried to commit suicide by letting himself drown, a few years ago, it had been different. He had had nothing left - his loved ones had been presumed dead and even the desire for revenge had been denied to him.

But now? He was full of regrets. He had wanted to see his sister go to college...He wanted to see her marry someone someday...

He wanted to explore the new feelings he discovered for Galatea...he wanted to kiss her one more time...to embrace her one more time...

A mournful sigh escaped through his nose.

 _'I never had the chance to tell her clearly my real feelings. That I'm not just in love with her.'_

 _'But I can show it to her..._ _It will be the last thing I do.'_

He grit his teeth and the intensity of Raiton no Yoroi that covered his body increased until only his body shape could be seen, an almost opaque haze of black lightning covering his entire form now. He knew that the moment he moved a muscle, he had only 1 second before his perception of time went back to normal. His body could handle only 1 second of moving while the time was stopped.

 _'I have to make it count. I got only one shot at this.'_

Mustering up the entire chakra pool in his dantian, his 2 chakra hearts bloated to the point where they were about to burst. Then, like dam that could no longer hold the furious waves of a savage river, his power exploded!

The moment he moved, pain assaulted his entire body! But he paid no mind to it. Grabbing Galatea's waist, he abruptly turned on his heels, and with the entire strength he was capable of, he launched her into the opposite site, the speed of his throw breaking the sound barrier.

Just as he did that, his perception of time reverted back to normal. And then, he could see it: with a diameter of 15 feet and a length over 90 feet, it was largest nuclear missile ever built by man.

He closed his eyes.

A cataclysmic explosion was unleashed.

From that day, the Geographers in the entire world had to refresh their knowledge regarding Novaya Zemlya archipelago. Because from that day, the Southern half of the Soverny Island, was completely razed off the map.

* * *

AN: "Satan 2" exists in real life - it's the largest nuclear weapon ever built and it belongs to Russia. It is estimated that, if launched at a city like London, it could kill even 10 million people. The casualties could be even bigger if launched at a city like Tokyo for example. Anyway, Satan 3 from this fic is like the real version, only on steroids.

 _(Not an English native and I have no beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	41. Chapter 41 - A fork in the road

AN: Am I the only one who is going to spend his Christmas alone, with only his laptop as company? Lol, I don't even have the luxury of owning a cat to cuddle with. Putting my pathetic situation aside, I gave my best to update a new chapter quickly because I knew some of you were left very anxious after the last chapter. Didn't want to prolong your suffering. So here it is. I hope you'll enjoy it!

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thoughts

* * *

 **Chapter 41 - A fork in the road**

It was the largest nuclear missile ever built by humanity. And what followed after its detonation more than matched its name.

Galatea noticed how both Superman and Naruto seemed to have been petrified, with their eyes fixed on the sky above them. She had also heard a particular noise but she had not given it a second thought...until she also looked up. It was then that she realized the reason for the two powerful men's shock.

And that was the last thing she remembered clearly. In the next moment, she felt all air leave her lungs violently as someone appeared to have grabbed her from the waist and thrown her into the distance. But it had been so abrupt, so unexpected and with so much power that she felt as though she had been slammed by a speeding train. Her body broke way past the sound barrier, deafening booms shaking the skies as she was sent barreling through. In only 2 seconds, she found herself more than a mile away from where she had been before. She was just about to right herself in the air and take control of her flight when she saw the massive missile impacting the ground...And that was the last thing she remembered. The explosion both deafened and blinded her. The shockwave that came with it had been so powerful that, at the impact, the girl lost her consciousness.

It was a scene out of an apocalyptic prophecy. An enormous fireball appeared and it continued to grow until it seemed like it was about to swallow the sky and the land alike. It was over 16 kilometers wide and it was still growing. The shockwave of the explosion pulverized the land below but as a result of that, the enormous fireball was pushed into the air. A mushroom-shaped cloud came from it and continued to rise high up in the air. It broke through the lower layers of the Atmosphere, reaching well into the thermosphere. The mushroom cloud was over 100 km large and over 350 km in height.

...But that was not the end. The explosion triggered a catastrophic earthquake in its wake. A rupture appeared and it began to swallow the land like the gaping maw of a primordial beast. The geography of the Southern part of Severny Island was changed irreversibly. A rift broke the surface of the island in two, with the water filling the void right away. A new, "man-made" island was "born" through the partial destruction of the original one. From that day, Novaya Zemlya archipelago would have 3 large islands.

Nevertheless, the catastrophic earthquake did not affect only the geography of the Severny Island...tsunami waves of a never before seen size were roused. What followed the detonation of the largest nuclear missile in history was a series of cataclysmic events that greatly affected the Northeastern side of Europe and spread panic across the entire Globe.

Tens of thousands of square kilometers of the surface were invaded by the raging tsunami waves produced by the earthquake and the shockwaves generated by the explosion of the missile completely broke any sort of telecommunications in the entire European side of Russia, all the Scandinavia Peninsula and in the continent, all the way to Switzerland in West and to Bulgaria in South. Despite being hundred of kilometers away, in Finland, Sweden and the 3 Baltic countries, the windows of houses burst into pieces, and in Sankt Petersburg, Russia, many of the monuments and historical significant buildings and monuments along with some of the older civilian buildings collapsed, trapping and killing their inhabitants.

But what was even worse, was what came with the shockwaves. The electric power was cut in half of European continent...which in turn triggered another chain reaction; another series of deadly catastrophes. There were almost 100 Nuclear Power Plants in Northern and Eastern Europe... 10 in Sweden, 4 in Finland, over 30 in the European Russia, 15 in Ukraine and quite a few others in the rest of the states. Despite all the safety protocols installed for emergency situations, some of the older power plants proved to not be fail proof. Eleven of them suffered fatal explosions due to the impact created by the shockwaves and the subsequent power cut. Tens of thousands of people died and millions of people were poisoned in the following days by the radioactive fallout; the clouds of radioactive matter were spread by the air currents over vast areas... millions of people would contract cancer or leukemia in the incoming few months and die... not to mention how many of the people that were undergoing surgeries and treatments in hospitals also died after being cut from the machines that kept them alive or from the mistakes made by the surgeons when the power was cut.

In only one day, the number of people that were killed or doomed to die in the following months reached almost the number of the ones that died during the 2nd Wold War, in a span of 6 years. It was the deadliest incident in the history of human kind.

 _Scene break_

 _'It's so cold.'_ she thought and shivered as a wave washed over the beach and over herself too, waking her up from the state of unconsciousness she had been in.

Another wave of ice-cold water washed over her and she started to cough. Her hands clenched and she felt the texture of the wet sand. A freezing wind blew and a wave crashed against the beach once again.

 _'I'm alive.'_

With difficulty, she pushed with her hands against the sand, trying to lift herself up.

 _'I feel so weak.'_

She had felt like that only once before. It was when she had used up all the solar radiation in her body to shoot 2 overpowered heat beams in the life and death battle atop the Altantic a few weeks back.

Her body was shivering and she teeth were chattering from the low temperature. She had never felt such intense cold. She gave up on trying to stand up. Instead, she crawled away from the water's range and coiled up, desperately trying to fight against the hypothermia. But it was hopeless. She was completely naked. She may have managed to survive the blast of the nuclear missile but the shockwave that saved her life by blasting her away, was still hot enough to melt everything on her possession in a heartbeat. Now, devoid of all her superpowers, she was just an ordinary woman. Wet, without clothes, at the edge of a frozen waste.

In her delirious mind, it was only one figure that popped up.

 _'Naruto..'_

When his face appeared at the front of her mind, she regained some clarity.

 _'He saved my life.'_

She remembered the explosion. A desperate feeling of urgency appeared in her heart and her body began to absorb the solar radiation at a much faster rate than before. She wanted to rush back and find him. She didn't want to think of the possibility that he was dead. She didn't want to accept it.

The feeling of cold soon faded to a mere chill and she stood up on her feet. But when she looked at the ocean, all feeling of hope disappeared from her face...A tsunami wave nearly 2000 feet tall appeared to have blocked the sky as it furiously advanced towards the shore. There was no escape. (1)

 _Scene break_

White was all that his eyes could see. He couldn't distinguish anything around him. It looked like the place he was in had no limits, the white extending infinitely. The only thing he could feel and touch was the white floor beneath his feet.

 _'That's not how I imagined afterlife to be like.'_

Dispirited, he turned around. To his surprise, it was Kyuubi. He was in the size of an ordinary fox cub that he usually kept. But he appeared to be lifeless. There was no movement coming from him and no sound of breathing could be heard.

"Kurama!" he called out.

Bending down, he gently took Kyuubi in his hands, the fox now being so small that Naruto could fully cup his entire body with his 2 palms alone. He caressed the fox affectionately, as his eye were fighting a losing battle against the tears that flooded them. Guilt was eating at him. In his past life and in his current one too, Kyuubi had always saved him. In this life, he had come to acknowledge that Kyuubi had always been his best friend. And now, he had gotten him killed. He had summoned the fox only for the mother of all nuclear missiles to drop on them.

"I'm sorry, Kurama."

He let himself fall to his knees and hugged the fox to his chest as he silently cried and grieved.

"The demon is not dead. And neither are you." the deep but kind voice of a middle-aged man was suddenly heard from behind.

Naruto abruptly turned around, his black Raiton no Yoroi instantly enveloping his entire body, ready to fight.

"What are you doing here?" he asked and blue crystal-like bones began to protrude from his torso and from his elbows.

"I have nearly forgotten how violent and deadly the one known as Uzumaki Naruto used to be." the middle-aged man stated in what seemed like a neutral type of amusement.

But Naruto did not let his guard down. He didn't know what to make of the situation, but he knew one thing: the man in front of him was not one he should take lightly: dressed in a blue suit and wearing a golden cape and a golden helmet, it was none other than Doctor Fate. And Naruto had never underestimated Doctor Fate. While Galatea could kill Green Lanterns as if they were children and then knock unconscious even the Man of Steel himself with only one hit, Naruto had seen it with his own eyes that she had had serious problems against Doctor Fate, not managing to get the upper hand against him.

"Your memory sure is short, old man." Naruto bit back "It was only a few weeks ago that I tossed you around like a rag doll on top of the Atlantic."

Doctor Fate said:

"For you, it may have been weeks, but for me it's been more than half a year."

Naruto looked at him through narrowed eyes:

"What is that supposed to mean? ...and where the hell is this place? What did you mean by both my partner and I not being dead?"

"Your partner, hm?" Doctor Fate talked to himself, noticing the way Naruto spoke about the fox. "So it isn't a mere pet, nor just a summoned demon?"

"If it wasn't for the fact that you might hold the answer to several of my questions, I would've cut you down for speaking like that about him." Naruto said dangerously, his bone protrusions crackling with lightning.

"Dully noted." the sorcerer stated, only increasing Naruto's ire. "But as much as I would like to discuss the nature of your relationship with the demonic being next to you, I do not have much time left and we have other, more pressing, matters to address."

"I'll start by saying that I'm not the Doctor Fate that you know -"

"Wha-"

"- I'm from the future." he finished, and Naruto fell silent at that.

"In my time, you didn't survive the nuclear missile explosion. Your partner in crime, Galatea, was also presumed dead, her whereabouts unknown. But the demonic beast you seem to hold in such high esteem, managed somehow to actually survive. And once it found out who launched the missile, it went on a destruction rampage. With only one attack, it razed Russia's capital, Moscow, off the map, taking the lives of over 10 million people at the same time."

Naruto listened with rapt attention. That truly sounded like something an enraged Kyuubi would do.

"In the wake of that destruction, the Earth's heroes - all of them, not only the Justice League - banded together to fight against the beast. And they succeeded, but not without paying a terrible price. More than half of them died in the process. It was a pyrrhic victory."

After a few moments of silence, Naruto willed his black Lightning Armor to fade away and his bones retracted back into his body.

"I assume that you are here to prevent all of that from happening?"

"I would not have come back in time if it was only for that. Time Travelling is not something that can be done on a whim, only because some people died." Doctor Fate said grimly.

"Half a year later, Earth was invaded. After so many superheroes met their end in the fight with your demonic beast, the few ones that survived, never stood a chance against the invasion. And Earth's military was powerless to do anything against it."

"It wasn't only the heroes that died. The invaders started killing the civilians as well. Their cruelty knew no bounds. It was a genocide."

"I managed to initiate the spell to travel back in time only seconds before the entire planet exploded."

Naruto was finding it hard to believe.

"How do I know any of these is true? Destroying an entire planet? Do you realize how ridiculous does that sound? Also, time travelling? You'll have to excuse me for being skeptical."

"Your suspicions are valid," Doctor Fate said "but you still being alive should give my words some credibility."

"The biggest problem with what I did is that my time is close now. Simpy by saving your life, I have irremediably changed the future. Furthermore, there cannot exist 2 Doctor Fate at the same time. This version of me will soon disappear."

Naruto looked at Doctor Fate deeply.

"You sacrificed your life just to come back in time to save me?"

"I'm merely rectifying my past mistake. Your death triggered a series of events that eventually caused the Earth's annihilation..."

"Just before the missile detonated, I managed to create a portal and teleport everyone away, to safety. But I had purposely left you, the clone and the demon behind. I had hoped that the missile would kill the three of you."

Not leaving Naruto that occasion say anything about that, he continued:

"You have to understand that, objectively, the three of you were in my mind back then some of the most dangerous beings I've ever met. Furthermore, you were ruthless killers. You still are. Putting yourself in my place, would you have tried to save your worst enemies?"

"Of course not. I am not judging you for that." Naruto acknowledged.

It was then that Doctor Fate's body started to become blurry and flicker like a hologram that was about to fade.

"It seems I was right in my assumptions. I am going to disappear within a few moments."

"Uzumaki Naruto, I heard you were a man of your word. That you would never forget a debt of gratitude."

"And how would know that?"

But Doctor Fate did not answer his question.

"I saved your life and that of your demonic partner. I could help you save the life of the superclone too..."

"...But you have to give me your word."

Naruto let go of his doubts and his wariness. Doctor Fate saved his and Kyuubi's life. Naruto was not the type of person to just brush aside something like that. He was not one to leave a debt of gratitude unpaid.

"Make your request. As long as you're not asking me to harm my family, I have no reason to refuse it."

A relieved sigh came from the sorcerer.

"Make peace with the Justice League. I know it's not realistic for this to happen right away but, gradually, this could be achieved. This antagonistic relationship going on between you is doing nothing but harming both sides."

"I understand that you could probably never become friends. But you could become allies. And trust me when I say that in the future invasion, the Earth will need all the power it can muster in order to survive."

A difficult expression appeared on his face when he heard Doctor Fate's request. What the sorcerer wanted was not an easy thing to accomplish at all. He had killed Shazam and Aquaman, two very important members of the Justice League. Red Tornado and Hawkman, while not really significant in the grand scheme of things, were also members of the Justice League that died at his hands. Naruto had killed 4 members of the Justice League...becoming friends was at that point in time was nothing but a pipe dream.

"What you're asking of me is not realistic. It's nearly impossible. Unless I saved their lives or managed to make them feel deeply indebted to me, us becoming allies would never happen."

When Doctor Fate was about to express his disappointment, Naruto said:

"But I owe you my life. And, by saving me, you also prevented Kurama from being killed."

The sharp tip of a bone broke through the skin of his index finger and he cut the palm of his other hand with it. Blood began to flow, its crimson red colour making a stark contrast when it splattered against the white floor. Clenching his bleeding palm he vowed:

"I give you my word. I will do everything in my power to see it through, to make sure that that future will not come to be. This is my debt of gratitude."

Doctor Fate nodded at him.

"Uzumaki Naruto, before I disappear I want you to answer me a few questions...take it as dying man's last wish."

"Why do you hate the Justice League? Why are you so ruthless?"

Naruto pondered for a few moments to choose his words.

"Hate? That's too strong of a feeling. If I had hated them, they would have all been dead by now." he said bluntly. "I only hated 2 people for real in this life: the Joker and Shazam. And now, they are both dead."

"Then what about the rest that you have killed?"

"You seem to have forgotten that the punitive force that the Justice League had put together to attack me atop the Atlantic Ocean was meant to kill me. A punitive force that you were part of too."

"And it's because I was part of it, that I can tell you that our purpose was to capture you, not to kill you." Doctor Fate countered.

"Don't be naive. Not everyone is as noble as you or the Gary Stu Superman." Naruto scoffed. "Aquaman, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman... I felt their bloodlust. They had every intention to kill me. And when someone tries to kill me, I am not kindhearted enough to let it pass. I will always respond in kind."

Doctor Fate kept silent, deep in thought.

"I've been a hero once." Naruto said, surprising Doctor Fate with his words. "Despite all the hate and mistreatment from the early years of my life, I persevered. I put my life on the line for other people more times than I can count and I've always tried to see the good in people, to change them. I was selfless to extreme. I even forgave and welcomed back as if it was my brother, someone that had tried to kill me twice. And I did it with my arms wide open."

"You're...is that a past life you're talking about?!" Doctor Fate exclaimed in wonder. For someone like him, it was not hard to believe that Naruto's words were real. Naruto was not the first person in his knowledge to have been reincarnated.

"Yes. But in the end, despite all the good I've done and despite living selflessly my entire life, I died a dog's death, before I even reached adulthood."

"I won't make the same mistake in this life. I will always put my needs in front of that of a stranger's, like a normal person should. And if anyone threatens my family's safety, regardless of who they are, I will kill them. That's why I even killed Lex Luthor, despite the massive influence he had on both the political and economical scene of the USA."

Doctor Fate sighed as his body started to resemble that of ghost more with each passing second.

"With your power, you could do so much good. You could save so many innocent lives."

Naruto shrugged.

"People die every day, and others are born in their place. Whether they die today or after 20 years, they will still die in the end. This is the cycle of life. Why should I bother trying to save them? How does it benefit me that I'm extending their existence a few more years? They are going to die eventually anyway."

It was a harsh and cold statement. One that brought a deep frown on the face hidden by the Helmet of Fate.

"If what you say about your past life is true, then you went from the extreme of selflessness to the polar opposite, to the extreme of selfishness... Ask yourself: what if you were also part of the helpless and weak people? What if you were also one of those that depend on the mercy of the powerful?"

Naruto didn't speak for a while.

"My sister was part of the helpless ones too. Back then, I was not powerful enough to help. And nobody else saved her. Now why would I want to save others when she received no help?"

Despite those words, Doctor Fate still did not want to give up:

"Tell me sincerely, Uzumaki Naruto...when your sister was in danger... did you not wish in that moment for someone - anyone - to help her? To save her?"

The blonde fell silent once more. He could still vividly recall the agony and despair he felt when he thought Misaki had died. His anger at the superheroes for not doing their supposed "job" properly, despite that what they were doing was technically just volunteer, unpaid and life-threatening work. They had no obligation to save anyone. Naruto knew that they were many times better persons than he was. Even if perhaps not all of them had pure intentions in their hearts, the end result was still that they risked their lives to save the ones that were too weak to protect themselves.

"Uzumaki Naruto...despite everything that you have done, the general population still sees you as if you were a hero."

"Pfft! I merely exploited the feelings of weakness and rebellion they had, for my benefit." Naruto muttered "I could manipulate these feelings of theirs because I felt them intensely myself once too. What people see me as, is not a hero. I think that deep in their hearts, they believe that I will restore the order. They hope that I'll become their Messiah. They hope that I will give them back the feeling of safety they used to have before all kinds of metahumans popped up and started terrorizing their lives."

"Is that not what hero is? A person that inspires hope?" Doctor Fate asked.

Another sigh came from the sorcerer.

"I will disappear any moment now, we don't have any time left."

A golden light came from his hand and a purple portal appeared in front of Naruto.

"This portal should take you to the approximate area where I believe that the shockwave of the explosion must have carried Galatea after you threw her. But her survival is still no sure, it will all depend on you to find her before it's too late. And before you start making a fuss, our chat did not last more than a second in real life."

With Kyuubi safely held in his arms, Naruto was about to step through the portal.

"Think about what he have discussed, Uzumaki Naruto. With your great power you could make a real difference. When Superman is the symbol of light and hope for the general public, you could become the symbol of order, of peace. You could become their pillar of strength."

Naruto paused in his steps. Throwing one last look at the sorcerer, he said, before vanishing through the portal:

"I will think about it. But I'm telling you that even if I do end up one day trying to actively save people: you should know that I will never - absolutely never - sacrifice mine or my loved ones' happiness for the sake of others. My oath to you was to stop the invasion and prevent our destruction, not me becoming a superhero."

"Thank you for saving my life and giving me another chance. Regardless of the agenda you had in mind when you saved me, I will forever be grateful."

* * *

AN: In this chapter, Naruto is presented with a choice. A figurative fork in the road. This chapter showed Naruto's first step towards redemption. But he will never become a pure hero like Superman. He will never hesitate in killing those that need to be killed.

(1) Tallest tsunami wave recorded reached over 1700 feet in height. Just a trivia so you would not think that a 2000 feet tall tsunami cannot happen. Similarly, the effects of the nuclear missile Satan 3 are not exaggerated in my opinion. They are merely what I deemed as natural after researching the effects "Tsar Bomba" had on the European continent after it exploded (google it, it's crazy). As the descendant of Tsar Bomba, Satan 2 (which also exists irl) is two times more powerful than it. And my fictional Satan 3 more powerful than Satan 2.

No badass action in this chapter but this was a very important step for Naruto's further character development. The story would not be able to progress with only fighting scenes all the time. These kinds of chapters are needed too. I hope that you liked it. Till next we meet, Happy Holidays!

 _(Not an English native and I have no beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	42. Chapter 42 - Revolution

AN:

 _'Hello' -_ thoughts

"Hello" - normal talking

* * *

 **Chapter 42 - Revolution**

Millions of protesters were out, flooding Moscow's streets and boulevards. Though to call them mere protesters would not do them justice. It was not a simple protest; it was a violent riot. The effects of Satan 3's detonation were felt in over half of the European continent... but the ones that suffered the most in its aftermath was none other than the Russians themselves. Of the eleven nuclear power plants that had exploded, 5 belonged to Russia. Hundreds of thousands of civilians died or contracted terminal illnesses in the aftermath.

Russians were strong people. They were used to bear with hardships and cruel regimes. They were used to endure. But everyone has a limit. And with the unjust death of so many of them in such a short time, they could no longer remain silent.

Only 4 days after the nuclear missile's launch, the fortress of Kremlin was cut off from the rest of the world - now, millions of people were surrounding it from all sides. It was only the military's heavy artillery guarding Kremlin's walls and the river that surrounded it that kept the enraged population from burning it to the ground. It was a revolution. Except for Kremlin, the government's buildings were vandalized or even demolished all across the Russian Federation and all the politicians that managed to preserve their lives escaped outside the country.

Had it been just an ordinary revolution, the government would have used the military against the population without a second thought. It wouldn't be the first time. It was no secret how many innocents were brutally killed during the Communist Regime. It was estimated for more than 60 million people to have been killed behind the Iron Curtain during the Communist period. But this time around, the situation was completely different. Satan 3's detonation caused an outcry on an international scale. Tens of millions of people protested everywhere in Europe, USA and Eastern Asia. Satan 3 was not a weapon that humans should possess. Everyone feared for their future. For a while, the mass destruction and death that this weapon had caused despite having been launched in a remote location on the globe, made everyone forget all about their race, nationality or religion. When faced with the possibility that they could all be killed at the same time one day if a new World War were to start, as one, tens of millions of people cried out for actions to be taken.

The USA's and the EU's governments were not blind to what was happening nor were they deaf to the masses of people's demands. During the Summit that took place at Berlin 2 days after the missile's launch, USA and the European Union openly declared that should Russia use the military to slaughter the population, they would invade the country with their full strength. And if a nuclear war was to start, Russia was assured to go out first. Because despite their strength, it was in the end only 1 country against the rest of the world. They would be razed off the map. Besides, not everyone in the government was a psychopath. Among the men in power, there were also persons that actually cared about their people... Obviously, the government was not going to use a nuclear weapon anytime soon. Alexander Makarov himself had been taken down from his position and now, the government was like a herd of sheep with no actual, strong leadership. And that was the reason for the current situation: the Russian Federation's capital was completely frozen. Over 6 million people were surrounding the Kremlin screaming and shouting in rage. It looked like an ocean of people was assaulting a barely withstanding fortress. It was only a matter of time before the government's fall.

From atop one of the towers overlooking Kremlin fortress' walls, someone began to shout using a very high tech megaphone. But no device could possibly cover the enraged voices of 6 million people screaming at the same time. It was only, after a few good minutes, that the crowd noticed the person from the tower trying to speak to them and quieted down just enough for his voice to be heard.

[WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE? WHAT IS THAT YOU WANT?]

It was a spokesman of the government, sent to attempt the start of a negotiation with the masses.

Why were they all there? After everything the government did, they had the courage to ask such a question? - it was the thought running through everyone's mind. If they were angry before, the man asking that question was like pouring gasoline on a fire. It became a raging inferno.

But it was in that very moment, just a second before the crowd could erupt, that a surprisingly powerful scream shook the air:

[MAKAROV'S HEAD WE WANT!]

It was as though a volcano's eruption. In the heat of the moment, as one, the 6 million people began to roar at the same time:

[MAKAROV'S HEAD!]

[MAKAROV'S HEAD!]

[MAKAROV'S HEAD!]

Caught in the moment, nobody noticed that the man that had screamed for the first time had had a foreign accent - that he was not a Russian native. And nobody noticed how said man suddenly disappeared, as though he had teleported away.

"It's time for the 2nd phase." the man spoke into his wireless transmitter, this time in English. "Take out their artillery. I'll bring down the fortress' walls."

"Got it." a woman's voice came from his earpiece.

Six different men appeared next to the walls of Kremlin, spread to all of its sides. At the same time, they all cocked their right arm back. Then, a deafening series of booms resounded and the massive walls of the fortress were blown to pieces. No special ability, no fancy moves - brute strength alone.

What followed next was a stampede. Like the unstoppable force of an enormous tsunami, the rioters invaded the Kremlin, trampling everyone under their feet.

That day marked the fall of the Russian Federation's government.

 _Scene Break_

On a very large screen, the events that transpired in Moscow were being played. Besides the tens of helicopters with reporters from various media channels from all over the Globe, there were also countless other drones recording the events.

"That's terrifying." a red-costumed man whispered.

The other occupants of the room did not say anything but they fully agreed with his words. Watching a crowd of over 6 million enraged people unleashing their fury was nothing short of terrifying. Even the usually confident Superman and the composed Wonder Woman and Green Lantern were silent, watching the scene enraptured.

All of a sudden, when the sound of a series of explosions was heard, the Justice League members all jumped up their feet. Batman rushed to the keyboard and his fingers blurred as he began to type on it. The image was zoomed and replayed in a separate window in the corner of the screen so they could see better how the walls of the Kremlin had been brought down.

"Metahumans got himself involved!" Green Lantern exclaimed.

But they couldn't discern any of those men's physical features except for the fact that they all seemed to be tall and very well built. Except for that, nothing else. They were all dressed in thick clothes to protect themselves from the cold as it was natural to do during a winter night in Russia. They all wore Russian winter hats and thick woollen scarfs were covering the bottom half of their face. Furthermore, they seemed to have not used any special ability - it looked like they demolished the walls with brute strength alone.

"Hold on! Can you play the image of the 6 men destroying the walls in parallel?" Superman asked.

Batman nodded and the screen was split into 6 sections. Then, he played the 6 videos at the same time.

"Do you all see what I'm seeing?"

When the videos were played simultaneously, the others finally noticed what Superman had picked on before them: that the 6 men had used the same movement, at the very same time, to destroy the walls.

"It's like they were robots...or clones." the Flash muttered to himself, before he slapped his forehead, loudly.

"Clones! That's it! Who's the only person we know that can make copies of himself?"

The Flash was the first to realize it because he had also been the first to have suffered because of that technique when the clone he had punched exploded in his face and left him with 2nd and 3rd degree burns all over his body.

"They don't look alike-" someone began to say only for Flash to cut them off:

"How can you be sure? They are dressed in thick clothes and nothing of their physical appearance can be disclosed!"

The others were silent for a moment, surprised at how vehement was Flash about it. The speedster was not one to act like that usually. He rarely involved himself so seriously in "grown-up" talk; he was usually just joking and flirting around with any woman that happened to be around him. The situation on hand, however, was way too grave for even the light-hearted superhero to be joking around.

"Even if the points you make are valid, it's impossible to be him." Green Lantern said and shook his head.

Neither of them spoke his name but everyone else knew whom they were talking about. Four days have passed since they all narrowly brushed past death - four days since they heard nothing from Uzumaki Naruto, Supergirl's clone or Uzumaki Naruto's demonic beast. And from what Batman gathered from speaking with Barbara Gordon, she and Uzumaki Misaki also did not know anything about his whereabouts except that he had told Misaki previously to not worry if he were to not come back home for a few days.

"Doctor Fate did not teleport them with us... nobody could possibly survive that. That nuclear missile was beyond anything mankind has ever created. It reshaped the geography of the land." Green Lantern said grimly.

The Flash did not continue to support his point of view but inwardly, he knew it. His instinct was telling him that it wasn't the last they heard of him.

"Green Lantern has made a valid point. Besides, we know very little about the Russian Federation's metahumans. It could very well be someone that has this ability. Furthermore, we don't even have a proof that those 6 men were only clones and not real humans." Batman said.

Green Arrow, who had been silent until then, couldn't help scoffing:

"Real humans? Tell me, what human can blow up a fortress' walls with a casual punch? Mind you, fortress walls that reach to over 30 feet in height and over 12 feet in thick?"

The rest fell silent at that statement. Ever since the metahumans appeared, the ordinary people fell behind in nearly all the aspects. Be it strength, vitality and even intelligence, there was always a metahuman that could achieve better results than an ordinary human. And, especially in the last 20 years, when the number of metahumans appeared to have grown significantly, not few were the ones that were scared.

Green Arrow was inwardly terrified as well. When the Justice League got wind of the USA government's Project Cadmus, Green Arrow was one of the few superheroes that actually dared to admit it to the other members' faces that he didn't think that that project was a bad idea, that it brought a sense of safety and security for the ordinary people, knowing that there was an organisation would keep in check other metahumans. But, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on which side one looked), Project Cadmus was destroyed before it even had the chance to come out in public. This top-secret organisation signed its demise certificate the moment Lex Luthor had tried to manipulate Uzumaki Naruto and blackmail him with the life of his sister.

It was during that moment of silence that Batman received a call.

"Master Bruce?"

"Yes, Alfred. Did anything happen?"

"That it has. You'd probably want to check out the local news channel of Metropolis City...or any other news channel for that matter. It's being broadcasted everywhere." the butler said and Batman ended the call.

Turning his attention back to the screen, he accessed one of the local news channels of Superman's city.

 _"...and one of the highest ranked government officials was found dead 8 hours ago in the hotel room she had booked in one of the hotels located in the central area of Metropolis City. Josh Cooper at the scene will come up with more details about the incident."_

The image changed, showing a reporter in his late 30s.

 _"Amanda Blake Waller was found dead 8 hours ago in her living room when one of the hotel's employees came to check the minibar. Her death was not natural and the criminalists confirmed that it was a murder. And a rather brutal one at that. I have seen the body but the footage cannot be shown to the public. It's too gruesome."_

 _"Her body showed signs of severe physical trauma but the cause of her death appears to be the two wounds in her head. The criminalists are the firmly convinced that a metahuman was involved given the special nature of the wounds..."_

Batman closed the news report transmission and immediately accessed the files of the investigation concerning her death from Metropolis City's Police Department's database. When a photo of Amanda Waller's corpse appeared on the large screen, there was nobody amongst the Justice League members that did not understand what had caused her death: in the place where her eyes should have been, there were two black, charred holes that protruded all the way through the back of her skull.

"That's a wound only a Kryptonian's heat beams could cause." Batman said categorically and looked at Superman.

From what they knew, there were only 2 Kryptonians left alive: Superman and his cousin, Supergirl. But nobody even thought about suspecting any of them for being responsible for such a gruesome act. Superman was the type that would rather sacrifice himself instead of killing someone and Supergirl, despite being not a restrained as her cousin, was just a teenager. A teenage girl with a bubbly personality. There was no way she would be capable of murdering someone in cold blood.

"I knew they were still alive!" the Flash said. "At the very least, Supergirl's clone has to be alive. This looks just like what an evil Kryptonian clone on steroids would be capable of doing."

 _Scene Break_

Themyscira - a realm known as the Amazons' heaven. Its beauty and splendour were enough for one to think of it as of the mythical Garden of Eden. It was a Paradise. However, deeply buried within the confines of the island lay a secret very few except for the Amazons and their gods knew of. It was proof of their past, a large black stain in their history. It was a reminder of their loss at the men's lies and their cruelty.

Beneath the Island of Paradise, lay its polar opposite - the Doom's Doorway, the Gates of Tartarus. The Amazons' eternal punishment was to guard it even at the price of their lives. Because imprisoned there was not only the God of War of himself, the Amazons' archenemy but also the man that the Amazon hated the most - Heracles, the God of Strength - for raping their queen, enslaving the rest of the Amazons and selling them like cattle.

But with the help of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, the Amazons freed themselves. Despite their promise to the goddess to not kill their captors, when the Amazons rebelled, they enacted a fierce vengeance against the men that tricked them by taking advantage of their hospitality. The Amazons had slaughtered them all and, empowered by Hera's blessing too, they managed in the end to corner the two gods that had put them through all their suffering - Ares and Heracles. Hippolyta, the Amazons' queen was just about to deliver Ares the finishing blow and kill him when none other than the King of Gods, Zeus, intervened.

Despite the Amazons' outrage and thirst for vengeance, Zeus did not want to see his two sons being killed. However, he was not completely blind to their deeds either. Ares was bound with a pair of bracelets that rendered him a mere mortal and then imprisoned in the Tartarus.

As for Hercules, for his heinous act of raping Hippolyta and enslaving the Amazons, he was punished more severely: he was transformed into one of the 2 pillars of the Gates of Tartarus. For the next thousands of years, he was cursed to suffer under the torment of the abyss' creatures, feeling the pain but being unable to retaliate.

Not long ago, the Justice League's core members have become privy of some of these secrets as well after a very powerful sorcerer named Faust opened the Gates of Tartarus. Through sheer luck alone, the Justice League managed to thwart Faust's plans and stop Hades from escaping. But in the process, the Key to the Doom's Doorway was destroyed. They thought that from then on, the Gates would remain closed forever. So many things happened since that moment that some of them have almost forgotten about the incident altogether. It was just a distant memory. Little did they know what an enormous effect the current global unrest, fear and discord will have on the not so far future. Little did they know that, after making a deal with his uncle, Hades, Ares managed to get rid of the bracelets that were sealing off his divinity.

* * *

AN: this chapter marks the end of the League of Shadows story arc. And that cunt, Amanda Waller got what she deserved too. Unfortunately, I felt like it would not be a good thing to write a torture scene with her (despite that I was very tempted). I mean some of you would have most likely started to throw stones at me if this story got any darker than it already is lol. Anyway, I hope you liked it. Till next time, cheers!

(1) The information related to Kremlin, the walls and the river around it, the fortress, is legitimate. Check out Wikipedia.

 _(Not an English native and I got not beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	43. Chapter 43 - Interlude

AN:

 _'Hello' -_ thoughts

"Hello" - normal talking

* * *

 **Chapter 43 - Interlude**

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Supergirl, Flash and more than a dozen other members of the Justice League were gathered together in the Hall of Justice - the uppermost room of the Watchtower. It was a conference hall where the Justice League's upper echelons (the core members) would often meet to plan and discuss together strategies, actions and to assign duties to the other members of the league. It goes without saying that it was one of the safest locations in the world - it was located in the very Watchtower of the Justice League, a satellite-like building in Earth's outer space. Furthermore, tens of metahumans that had taken the mantle of a hero were swarming the place every day, making anyone sane not even think about ever attacking the place.

However, at that moment, despite being in a place that was supposed to give everyone a feeling of safety, the members of the Justice League that were gathered in the Hall of Justice were not feeling safe at all. The reason for that was the man and the woman standing their midst.

''Holy shit, look at his view, Tea!''

The man was unabashedly ogling around and exclaiming like a child. In his defence, however, the sight in front of his eyes was out of a sci-fi movie. So beautiful that it felt surreal. As mentioned before, the Hall of Justice was at the very top of the Watchtower. On the lower level of the hall, there was a large U-shaped conference desk, while the upper level of the hall was equipped with computers and other machines whose technology was way, way above Earth's technology. But that was not all...to further cement the futuristic aspect of the place, excepting the sturdy metallic frame, the walls and even the ceiling of this circular room were made of glass. The view was spectacular, the planet Earth could be seen in all of its glory.

The man's companion, ''Tea'', was not any better. She flew up in the air and mashed her face against the glass ceiling, looking at the planet below in wonder.

''You've got to be kidding me! Are you telling me that that guy over there is the one that's been kicking your asses for the past 3 years? That...that moron?'' someone said incredulously as he pointed at the man in question who was at that moment poking with his finger at a device that created holograms as if he was expecting it to explode any moment then. The three whisker-like marks on his cheeks only made the scene funnier, giving him the look of a curious animal that saw technology for the first time in his life. It was none other than Naruto.

Naruto stopped his shenanigans and turned towards the one that had just spoken and Galatea also came down next to him.

''Would you look at that! Naruto, they've got another green flashlight!'' Galatea told Naruto in mock wonder, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

The man in question glared at her raised his fist in the air, pointing at her.

''You have no idea who you're messing with, have you? I am a Green-''

''Hal, that's enough!'' John Stuart interrupted him, but the other green lantern was more than a bit dissatisfied.

''The power ring is the most powerful weapon in the universe. With my ring I could-'' the man named Hal began, only for Galatea to suddenly say:

''You and what power ring?' ...This one?'' she asked as she tossed a green power ring in the air as if it was a coin.

For a few good moments, Hal looked as if his brain had just had a short-circuit. He couldn't comprehend the situation. He was back in his civilian clothes and he kept touching the fingers of his right hand as if he was trying to convince himself that the ring really was not in his possession anymore.

 _'W-What the hell?! She was in front of me the entire time! How did she do it?!'_

It wasn't only Hal Jordan that was stunned in disbelief, the other members of the Justice League became tense too. Except for Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman and Supergirl, the others had also not even sensed Galatea ever leaving her place.

Although Naruto was inwardly laughing at how she flicked the cockiness out of the new Green Lantern, he didn't show it outwardly. Gently tapping her on the shoulder, he said:

''We didn't come here to cause them trouble, Tea. We have a very important matter to discuss with them.''

The girl tsk-ed in annoyance.

''You're no fun.'' she said, almost showing a pout.

Lightly throwing the power ring back to its owner, she told him one last thing:

''Power ring or not, you still amount to nothing. That insufferable douchebag next to you is 2 times the fighter you'll ever hope to be.''

John Steward - he was the one standing next to Hall Jordan - frowned but knew better than to feed the figurative fire. He chose to stay silent.

Naruto palmed his own forehead.

 _'I wouldn't be surprised if a skirmish broke any moment now.'_ he complained to himself in chagrin.

But after a few weeks of living in the same house, he came to understand how unladylike her language could be at times. Orochimaru himself had tried to correct that habit of hers in the past but, suffice to say, he was proven to be unsuccessful.

After getting his ring back, Hal Jordan looked like he really wanted to say something, if the way his jaws were clenching was anything to go by. But, this time around, Martian Manhunter took the initiative to break the current mood and lead the conversation towards the matter at hand - the reason why they agreed to meet like that.

''Mr. Uzumaki, why don't we start discussing the reason why you wanted to meet us.''

''Before that though, I'd really love to know first how did you manage to survive that explosion.'' Wonder Woman said, looking at the two of them searchingly.

The others tacitly agreed with her question.

''First of all, the reason why I wanted to meet the Justice League, is to make an alliance-''

A clamour of voices suddenly burst from the members of the Justice League.

''After everything you've done..''

''With a criminal like you?!''

''What the heck?''

This and other similar shouts could be heard coming from the group of heroes. Even Superman found his words incredulous.

''You've killed hundreds of people until now... you've even killed members of the Justice League! Aquaman, Shazam, Hawkman, Red Tornado... they were all innocent! You want us to become friends with the one that killed them?!''

The other members also fell silent at his words. Superman was, after all, their leader and the words he spoke perfectly conveyed their thoughts as well.

But Naruto was not impressed in any way by their outburst.

''Innocent? Being a member of the Justice League automatically makes you a hero and thus innocent, huh? How convenient!'' he mocked. ''Was Aquaman innocent when he sank the USA's submarine, killing the tens of innocent people at its board?''

''What about your favourite martyr, Shazam? Was he also innocent?''

As he asked about Shazam, black lightning started to crackle around his left arm, making the air become filled with static energy.

''Do you see this black lightning?'' he said and showed them his hand. ''It was originally not mine. Almost 4 years ago when Shazam and I clashed for the first time, that fucker called the lightning down to strike me.''

''It's a miracle that I did not die back then. Are you telling me that he was also innocent despite that he tried to kill me? Because at that time I was not even a tenth of how powerful I am now. I was only a bit above normal humans. And Shazam's lightning was of a magical nature, more destructive than the natural one.''

Originally, Naruto would have had the potential to one day control all the 5 elements, to cast jutsus from all the 5 main branches of elemental ninjutsu. But when Shazam's lightning strike nearly killed him, his body's innate instinct of survival made it so the chakra within would absorb as much of the black lightning as possible, to protect the his flesh and bones from being incinerated. The end result was that although Naruto managed somehow to survive the ordeal, he became, in a sense, crippled. He could no longer cast any other elemental technique except for his now black lightning.

''I've said this before and I will say it once more - whoever tries to harm me or the ones I care about, will get killed. It's as simple as that. And you'd do well to remember that every time one of you suffered at my hands, it was because of your own actions - you were the ones that attacked me first, 4 years ago. A few months ago, on top of the Atlantic, it was also you who ganged up on me and tried to hunt me down. All I did was to respond in kind...or you thought that I was playing some sort of game? That the 'bad guy' would not dare to kill the 'good guy'?''

''We all got some dirt on us. Yourself included too, Superman. How many innocents did you kill in Metropolis City while you were supposedly mind-controlled or brainwashed a few years ago? What about Batman, while he was an assassin for the League of Shadows? What about Wonder Woman's actions in the 2nd World War? How many Germans fell at her blade? What about Green Arrow's former vigilante activity in Starling City?''

The members of the Justice League fell silent at Naruto's words. Most of them had no idea about Batman having been a subordinate of Ra's al Ghul in the past and just as many had no clue about Green Arrow's former actions in his city. After all, generally, the heroes did not intrude on each other's 'home turf' unless there was a threat that the local hero was unable to handle alone. That said, the other members of the League had no idea that more than a few people had already perished at Green Arrow's hands. Despite that they were corrupt criminals, if the Justice League knew about Green Arrow's action, he would definitely get arrested; the league did not compromise with murder no matter the reason. But then again, Green Arrow had been wise enough to stop his extreme actions before joining the league of superheroes. Naruto only knew of his past actions because of the dirt that Rupert Jones had managed to dig out.

Naruto's mood became taciturn and he didn't care about speaking anymore.

''Galatea, we're leaving.'' he said.

While some were confused about these words - how was he going to leave from a satellite in space - Batman's thoughts were different:

 _'Despite not looking like one, Uzumaki is a very careful person. He wouldn't have agreed to meet at the Watchtower if he hadn't had the means to escape in the case where things went south.'_

As Naruto was about to press the button of a small transmitter, Batman suddenly spoke up:

''Wait!''

Naruto stopped. While he had no intention whatsoever to beg for the Justice League to accept his proposal, it was still in his interest for this alliance to come into existence. After all, he had given Doctor Fater his word.

''What's the purpose behind this alliance you want? I fail to see what would you have to gain from something like this.''

''Thanks to whatever deal you had made with Lex Luthor, you already have several hundreds of millions in your bank accounts. Furthermore, your sister is alive and healthy... You never showed any signs of caring about anything else besides these two things - money and your sister's well-being.'' Batman analyzed.

Galatea failed to hide a grin and it stretched her cheeks widely when she told Naruto:

''Basically, he's saying you're a simpleton. See? I'm not the only one who thinks that way.''

Naruto's left eye started to twitch at her words and Batman actually coughed awkwardly...which made Naruto nearly choke with his own spit.

 _'The fuck you're coughing for, bastard? You actually think that, don't you?!'_

Naruto felt like yelling those words at him but if he started that, nothing else would be done that day.

 _'Some people really like to see the world burn._ _'_ was what he thought in his mind. Galatea appeared to be hell-bent on starting some sort of conflict. _'Look at her, she's totally itching for a brawl!'_

Naruto huffed and glared at her, but chose to be the mature one this time around and did not take the bait.

''What I 'gain' as you put it has to do with how I managed to survive.''

''Originally, Galatea and I did not survive. Following that, more than half of the Justice League's members died, together with Moscow's entire population - over 10 million. Then, after a few months, an alien force invaded the Earth. Apparently, you, the surviving members, didn't stand a chance. You were all killed, except for one: Doctor Fate.''

''...are you saying that someone travelled back in time?!'' Flash suddenly shouted, his eye wide. He was the first one to understand what Naruto was talking about. After all, he knew very well what time travelling was like.

Naruto was surprised that someone accepted his words so readily.

''Doctor Fate did. He said that the future that he had lived in, came to be because of a wrong decision that he had made. Believe it or not - it's your choice - my death was the small pebble that triggered the avalanche. When the missile exploded, he had chosen to only teleport his group away, leaving Galatea, I and my companion to our death.''

''But at the end, he sacrificed his life to come back in time, and change the course of history.''

''Me wanting to 'make peace' with the Justice League is simply what I promised him. That's what he had wanted me to do in exchange for saving my life. He thinks that you will need my, and Galatea's help in the future. According to his words, the invasion coming in the following months is above anything Earth has ever faced before - even worse than the Thanagarian invasion from 2 years ago.''

''Oh hell, I was in prison back then, so I wouldn't really know how bad it was.'' Naruto shrugged.

After he finished his words, he snaked his arm around Galatea's waist, startling her. She nearly let out a yelp when he unexpectedly pressed her body flush against his chest and hugged with both of his hands in front of all those people that were looking at them.

As if he didn't just suddenly intimately embraced someone in front of a group of strangers when he spoke next, his voice appeared to be unperturbed:

''There's no need to decide right now. Take your time and think things over. However, I do expect to receive an answer after a week. And not receiving an answer at all is an answer in itself too. When you need to contact me, you can do it through Batman.''

Once he stopped speaking, he pressed on a small transmitter. Then, with a puff of smoke, they were gone.

The Justice League quickly started to search for them everywhere in the Watchtower. Superman activated his X-ray vision, Martian Manhunter did a telepathic scan and they even checked the surveillance cameras. But they were truly gone.

After receiving Naruto's radio signal, Kyuubi had reverse-summoned him right back into the living room of his home. The summoning contract worked both ways.

 _Scene break_

A red-haired girl was sitting at a desk, studying. There were a dozen books piled up on it, of which half were opened. Once in a while, she was noting down, in a notebook, bits of the information she read. She had been at it for hours and the beginning of a headache was starting to affect her ability to concentrate.

A yawn escaped from her mouth and she raised her hands up to stretched her back...only for someone to suddenly grab them from behind! A panicked scream came from her and she jumped out to her feet, her eyes widened in fright. When she turned around, she didn't know whether to start yelling at the one that scared the living daylights out of her or to jump in their arms and hug the life out of them.

"You scared the shit out of me, asshole!" she yelled but her words did not match her actions: she jumped right at him with her arms wide-open. It was her brother.

"Where have you been this whole week? I've been worried sick about you!" she muttered, still not letting go of her hug.

"Putting where I've been to the side, what was with that gorilla-like scream from before?" he asked and started laughing at her disgruntled expression.

"Hmpf! Jerk!"

Still lightly bickering, Naruto and Misaki went into the living room and made themselves comfortable on the closest sofa next to the fireplace.

"Soo? You've been somewhere away for like a week, together with a particular, hot as hell blonde girl. I'm dying to hear more about it." Misaki grinned and looked at her brother expectantly.

Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"You have no idea how weird is seeing a guy packed with muscles acting shy. Stop playing coy and tell me already!" she jeered and he couldn't help bursting into laughter at her words.

"We didn't leave because we wanted to have some private time together. Us becoming a couple was just... unexpected."

Misaki's mischievous expression dimmed.

"Were you involved in what I think you were?"

Naruto didn't deny it but he didn't confirm her suspicions either. Since it passed and he was still alive and well, there was no point in making her worry about 'what could have been'. Instead, he changed the subject.

"What were you studying earlier?"

Misaki narrowed her eyes at him for changing the subject but did not press the matter. She was fully aware of what kind of world Naruto lived in. He surely didn't need someone to nag him when he finally managed to come back home. The girl let herself fall to the side and then placed her head in Naruto's lap. A content sigh came from her when he started to gently massage her scalp.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me now, I missed you this week. I need my weekly dose of my little sister."

Misaki's face reddened at his words but still couldn't help bursting into laughter.

"I feel ashamed for your embarrassment. How can you say such corny lines?!"

He grinned at her embarrassed expression and pinched her nose, making her swat at his hand in annoyance.

"I'm the corny one? Remember how you used to steal my food and when I would ask you why were you taking my plate when you had yours, you would say _'Onii-chan's food tastes better'._ "

At this point, Misaki covered her face with her palms. Being reminded of that scene made her feel like wanting to dig a hole and bury herself in it.

But he did not continue to tease her about it. He went back to gently caressing her head. Eventually, her fluctuating emotions subsided and she looked up at Naruto. She was startled by how much emotion filled his eyes at that moment.

 _'I couldn't save grandpa.'_

After being rescued by Doctor Fate, he did not let his emotions be seen outwardly. He did not want Galatea to worry about him. Instead, he focused on helping the Russian rioters break into Kremlin in Moscow. He was the one that took down the fortress' walls while Galatea neutralized their artillery.

But now that he was alone with sister, his grief threatened to escape from his control.

 _'I stopped caring about him once I thought that he had abandoned us...and when I found out the truth, it was too late.'_

He felt guilty. But truthfully, there wasn't much he could have done. Who could have known that an apocalyptic nuclear missile would be dropped on their heads? To distract himself from his dark thoughts, he dressed his voice and asked his sister again:

"What were you studying when I came?"

"Law. By the end of January, I will have to go to Metropolis City to submit my application. I'm going to the University of Metropolis, the Faculty of Law."

He looked at her in surprise.

"Sheesh, you couldn't have gone for something easier like... I don't know, psychology or geography."

"Wait, what? Psychology is much harder than you think!" she retorted.

"Oh please. It's one of the fields where you can bullshit your way through the most. Even a high school dropout like me knows that." he laughed. "Anyway, why go to Metropolis City? Gotham University is just as famous."

"That may be so, but Metropolis University is better for the field I'm choosing."

"Hee~h. So you want to become a lawyer..."

Misaki hesitated. But then, she sat up from his lap and said while looking at him with a serious look in her eyes:

"Becoming a mere lawyer would be of no use for you. My aim is much higher than that."

Naruto was about to ask her to clarify her words when the doorbell rang.

"Don't worry, sit there. I'll take it." he said. Misaki was still not fully recovered. Not that he was at home, he wouldn't let her do any kind of meaningless effort if he could help it.

When Naruto exited the house and went to the gates, he was pleasantly surprised by who proved to be their guest. Said person was not any less surprised than him.

"Naruto?!"

"Mrs Inuzuka? What ar-"

Whatever he wanted to say was left unsaid as the woman brought him in a vigorous embrace, seemingly intent on snuffing the life out of him. When she saw the news of the nuclear missile's devastating explosion she had feared for the worst. She had thought that he was dead. Seeing him alive and well made her genuinely happy.

 _Scene break_

While Naruto, Misaki and Mrs Inuzuka were catching up and having a nice time together, Galatea and Barbara Gordon were in a supermarket, shopping. Barbara was rubbing her hands rather nervously, unsure of how to interact with her. After all, it was only a few weeks ago that Galatea and Naruto killed a bunch of Justice League and Green Lantern Corps members. While she and Naruto were childhood friends and she trusted him not to hurt her, Galatea was just a stranger.

A stranger of whom she knew nothing about, someone that could be ranked in the top 5 of most dangerous individuals on Earth. They never really talked to each other before, and definitely, they've never been alone together - Galatea had only ever interacted with Naruto, choosing to avoid Barbara and Misaki.

Galatea was not oblivious to her distress.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?" she asked casually while picking up a shopping basket from the stacks at the entrance. "No need to be scared."

 _'Am I like an open book to her?'_ Barbara thought alarmed that she was being seen through so easily.

"You're unconsciously rubbing your hands together - a clear sign of stress or discomfort - and your heartbeats are erratic and quick. I was trained not only in physical combat but in psychological warfare too. Nothing extraordinarily advanced, mind you, but I know the basics; just enough to let me take advantage of any signs of weakness my enemy showed."

Swallowing the node in her neck, Barbara also picked a shopping cart and started to walk next to Galatea.

"What brought this on?" Barbara asked. Seeing Galatea tilt her head at her, she clarified: "You coming with me to the supermarket. Actually talking to me at all..."

"Ah!" the blond exclaimed in understanding. "Well, I guess it's because I need your help. Before we get to that though, we shouldn't forget the reason why we came here."

"R-Right!" Barbara said in embarrassment when she realized that she had completely forgotten that they came to buy groceries.

Looking on Barbara's phone over the list of things they needed to buy, she asked:

"Are we buying things for a specific food that you want to cook or it's mostly general things?"

"We're going to have homemade pizza!" Barbara said enthusiastically.

"Eeeh...you need so many ingredients just for making a pizza? This looks like a major pain to make. Why not just order pizza from somewhere?" Galatea asked bewildered.

Barbara threw a sidelong glance at her.

"Because it's a chance to show Misaki my love for her."

"Expressing your love with food?"

Barbara giggled as she said:

"Misaki might not look like one, but she's a glutton. While ramen is her most favourited food, pizza is a close second. Making food for a glutton is the best way to get through their shell and reach their heart. This is especially true for men though."

"And just buying it already done, does not have the same impact as something that you cooked yourself. Knowing that you put much time and effort into making food for them will make them appreciate it even more. They will understand that you care about them."

Realizing how Galatea had been listening to her words with rapt attention, suddenly made Barbara feel self-conscious and she became flustered.

"So, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach?"

The girls shared a brief chuckle and smiled at each other. From that moment onwards, Barbara seemed to forget about Galatea's real identity and started to treat her just like she would treat another girl of her age. Soon, the mood between the two of them became comfortable and they finished the shopping in no time.

On their way back home, as Barbara drove the black BMW that Naruto had bought for the family, Galatea said out of nowhere:

"Naruto and I are together now."

Barbara nearly lost her control over the wheel and the series of angry honking sounds blared from the car behind them.

"WHAT?! WHEN? HOW?!" she all but yelled in surprise. "Oh my god, does Misaki know? For how you've kept this a secret?"

The redhead shot one question after another, not giving the blonde any chance to answer. She was gushing and unconsciously stepped harder on the gas pedal, wanting to get home as fast as possible and let Misaki learn the big news.

"Get a hold of yourself, hothead!"

Barbara calmed a bit from her high but was still excited. Galatea started to speak again, continuing on the idea she started:

"I'm his girlfriend now but... I don't really know that much about what this kind of relationship entitles. I was raised in a military facility, trained to become the perfect weapon. Human relationships were, to put it elegantly, not an area of interest for my caretakers. A weapon was not supposed to socialize or fall in love with someone."

Barbara's excitement died a bit when she noticed the bitterness in Galatea's voice. She understood then the reason behind the blonde approaching her and accompanying her to the supermarket today.

"So you think that interacting with me would help you learn how to behave like a normal girl..." Barbara concluded. "I'm not sure that being normal is very important in the long run though?" she said uncertainly.

"Why is that?" Galatea asked in surprise.

"Um, even when he was a normal guy when he was younger, Naruto was not really as unpopular as he thinks he was. Sure, he was feared by everyone in his school, but they all knew how much he loved his sister. Because of how sweet he was to her every time, quite a few girls fantasised about him. You know, the bad boy that's an ass to everyone but the girl he loves trope~?"

"Err.."

Seeing how she lost Galatea somewhere midway, Barbara inwardly berated herself:

 _'Sheesh, of course, she doesn't know, she's like what - 4 years old now? She's never even had the opportunity to socialize with others before.'_

"Um, what I wanted to get to is that Naruto could've gotten many girls had he wanted to. But he never even spared them a glance. Until he met you, Naruto had never been in a relationship. I think that it's a pretty clear sign that he doesn't really care about you 'not being normal' as you put it."

Galatea kept silent for a while, mulling over her words.

"I think I will have to ask him directly what he likes at me." was what the blonde concluded, making Barbara figuratively sweatdrop. "But even if he doesn't really caring about whether I'm normal or not, I can't be like this forever."

"When it comes to the mundane aspects of life...I'm not much better than a toddler." Galatea said and a long sigh came out from the depths of her chest.

"I'm not doing this only to make him like me more. I'm also doing this for myself."

"I want to develop as a human being too, not just as a human weapon. I want to grow up, to mature."

* * *

AN: Galatea wants to learn from Barbara how to act like a normal woman. This cutie-pie is growing up :3

Hal Jordan's new appearance is not random. And his cockiness is 100% canon lol. Expect something interesting to come up soon.

(1) I know that my updates are slow so just in case you have forgotten, Rupert Jones is the fatty metahuman that had convinced Naruto to let him become his associate of sorts. He's a genius hacker, has the power to become invisible and a great sense of smell.

I hope you liked the chapter. Till next time, cheers!

 _(Not an English native and no beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	44. Chapter 44 - Fight to the death (1)

AN:

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thinking

* * *

 **Chapter 44 - Fight to the death (1)**

"What's your opinion on this, Batman?"

Clad in his blue suit and red cape - it was Superman.

Batman did not reply immediately, he was busily typing on the keyboard of his supercomputer. On its very large screen, countless coding lines were appearing in an unending stream.

"My opinion does not really matter. Ever since you excluded me from the Justice League a few years ago, my opinion stopped being significant for most of the members. I'm back in the league now but it's not the same." Batman said eventually. "For most of them, I'm just one step away from being labelled as a villain. Probably, my only saving grace is only that they haven't seen me killing anyone during duty."

Superman narrowed his eyes at him.

"My decision at that time was correct. Your methods are too cruel! If the situation had not become so chaotic ever since Uzumaki came into play and had Wonder Woman not taken your side the entire time, I would have seen it myself that you were brought to justice! A few years ago it was only her intervention that saved you!"

The air suddenly became tense between the two of them. Superman realized that he might have crossed the line with what he just said when Batman's patented "batglare" met his eyes.

The coding lines on the screen disappeared and then, Batman started to access various files from his database.

"Carol Hughs - 15 years old, raped by her uncle. She committed suicide a month after the incident."

"Rachel Red - 67 years old. A punk robbed her when she was on her way back home from the Tea Club. She tried to resist and her aggressor stabbed her in the liver. She died within minutes."

"Ronald and Martha Hopkins - they were both murdered by their own 17-year-old son because they didn't give him money for drugs. He also set their house on fire, with them inside, once he was done."

Turning to face Superman, Batman said:

"What I do brings me no pleasure. Some people are like a plague, like cancerous cells to a body. My action are simply an evil that must be done."

"You're in no position to decide that, Batman." Superman said, his voice taking a dangerous edge.

"The one that raped his own niece and drove her to the point where she committed suicide.. are you telling me that it was too cruel to crush his genitals? After what he had done? What about the one that murdered his parents and set them and their house on fire? Was it too harsh to make sure he becomes paralyzed and will not be able to harm anyone else?"

"I once had the same philosophy of life as you, Superman...and it took the mass murder of nearly four hundred people for me to finally realize the truth!"

Superman fell silent at that. The Joker causing the death of a few hundred people on the same day was the largest stain in the Justice League's history.

"I had countless chances to kill the Joker! To kill that psychopath and be done with it! I would have traded his death for the life of those nearly 400 hundred civilians! I would have done it had I not been too stupid and too much of a coward to accept this truth: that some people are like rabid dogs. There is no changing them. They need to be put down!" Batman said, his voice filled with deadly intent.

"Just a rough statistic shows that the Joker has killed over 2500 people while he was still alive...but because he was certified as being insane, he was never deemed eligible by law to be sentenced to death. And every time I locked him up, he would break out of prison and continue to cause mayhem and murder people again.''

''I will not do the same mistake again. I will never allow animals like that to roam free. Not anymore."

Superman couldn't find any words in response to that. In exchange, he could only say:

"You've changed a lot, Batman. I barely recognize you from how you were when we first met."

Batman snorted while the large screen of his computer started to display again an unending stream of coding lines.

"When I took up this mask, my goal was to create a world where no other 8-year-old boy would see his parents die in front of his eyes because of a random punk with a gun..."

Looking directly into Superman's eyes, he said, filled with a such a strong conviction that it shook Superman from inside:

"What I fight for has never changed!"

Then, ignoring him, he poured his entire attention on what he working on. Even so, after a few good minutes, he couldn't help turning and asking Superman who appeared to have no intention of leaving.

"Why are you still here?"

"What's with those coding lines?" Superman asked, ignoring his question.

Batman sighed.

"Remember what Uzumaki said about my past a few days ago when he came at the Watchtower? I can count the people that know that information on the fingers of one hand. And none of them had had any contact with him."

"It was very suspicious so I decided to run through my security system. Someone broke into my database... they could have taken everything out. If profit had been their purpose, they would have downloaded everything. But it wasn't. Someone extremely meticulous, a real expert, bypassed my security system and managed to browse through the database for specific files regarding the Justice League's members' past, all the while not triggering even one alarm."

"The one whom Uzumaki had hired to do that, is a real expert. A very dangerous asset. I'm trying to find through which flaw he infiltrated my system and retrace it back to him."

Superman appeared to be slightly out of this depth and did not pursue the matter. Instead, he turned the subject back to what he had asked the first time:

"What is your opinion on the alliance with Uzumaki and Kara's clone? Doctor Fate is nowhere to be found, so we can't be sure whether Uzumaki is speaking the truth about the supposed invasion or not."

"The Justice League decided on a pact of non-aggression with him. While not ideal, it's still better than outright refusing any sort of agreement with him. The Justice League has nothing to lose by allying themselves with 2 metahumans of your calibre." Batman said eventually, knowing that Superman would continue to pester him to no end until he got a clear answer. Although Superman never said it outrightly, his behaviour clearly let the others know that he still placed a great deal of importance on Batman's opinion, even after he had changed.

"So you think that-" Superman began to say, only for Martian Manhunter's voice to suddenly ring in both his and Batman's mind:

"Metropolis City is under attack! John Stewart, Hawkwoman and Flash have been taken down! Wonder Woman and Hal Jordan have engaged the enemy but things are not looking well. All the Justice League members close by are requested to provide assistance!"

 _Scene break - two hours before_

"Hey Misaki, Barbara came to visit again!" Naruto called out as he looked on one of the screens monitoring the gate of his home. Barbara Gordon was shown on the screen - she was waving at the camera.

"Tell her to come in the kitchen!" Misaki yelled from the other side of the house.

"No, you go to her, I'm busy!" Naruto yelled back.

A frustrated groan could be heard from his sister but she complied and went to open the gates for Barbara. When she came back inside along with Barbara, she passed by the room where Naruto was in.

"What kept you so busy that you couldn't go and open the door? I was cooking!"

He was meticulously using a brush to write some Japanese-looking symbols on a white sheet so he didn't turn to face them.

"Kurama, sic 'em, boy!"

An enlarged orange-red fox tail suddenly smashed against his face and Naruto was sent tumbling towards the other end of the room.

"The fuck was that for, Kurama!"

"That's what you get for making stupid jokes! You dare treat me like a dog?! This demon lord here is going to royally kick your ass now!" Kyuubi growled.

It would have been a lot more intimidating if the fox hadn't had a squeaky voice and hadn't looked like a fluffy little animal.

"Onii-chan!" Misaki yelled from the entrance of the room but did not dare to enter it. She knew that one casual slap from either Naruto or Kyuubi was enough to kill a normal human. "You two are fighting again?!"

For Barbara Gordon, it was the first time she was seeing Kyuubi and Naruto having one of their usual fights. She didn't know whether to be scared or amused at seeing a puny fox cub sending a muscular man tumbling on the floor.

"Does this happen often?" she asked in an unsure voice.

It was then that the alarm rang from the oven and Miskai slapped her own forehead.

"Oh crap! I forgot the apple pie!" she shouted and she broke into the fastest run that her still not fully recovered body allowed her.

On the other side of the room, a now large dog-sized Kyuubi jumped on Naruto, pinning his limbs down with his tails and trying to get close enough to bite his neck. Barbara hurriedly left them alone and ran after Misaki.

An hour later...

The entire furniture in the room was trashed and Naruto's clothes were not hanging on his body in shreds. Kyuubi was not any better as his fur was all ruffled and some of the tips of his tails were singed. They were huffing and puffing while glaring daggers at the other from the opposites sides of the room.

Suddenly, they both started to laugh and let themselves fall to the floor exhausted.

"We should do this more often. Haven't had a good, old-fashioned brawl like this in a long while." Naruto said, still grinning.

He was, at his core, a thug. Because Sarutobi Hiruzen, his grandfather, trained him in martial arts from a frail age, he became very good at fighting. In the process of taking care of his sister, especially during high school, he forgot how many times he got into fights with other guys.

"Back then, before I got these powers, it was all about skill and stamina. Kinda miss those days."

While he said that, he did not really want to go back. Now, he had true power. Although fights were not as satisfying as before - he could just smash his opponents with mere brute force or turn them into ash with his lightning - in the end, his primary goal was to protect what he loved: his sister, Misaki, his best friend, Kyuubi and, more recently, his new girlfriend, Galatea.

 _'Not that Kyuubi or a monster like Galatea would actually need my protection.'_ Naruto laughed to himself. _'If I'm being honest, if my version of Shikotsumyaku didn't perfectly counter her Kryptonian physiology, I don't think I'd be able to win against her.'_

Groaning as he sat up from the floor, he complained:

"All fun and games, but who's gonna clean up all this mess?"

Just then, the sound of a phone ringing could be heard. It came from Kyuubi.

"Y-You have a phone?!" Naruto asked, his mouth agape at the sight of the fox cub-like Kyuubi tapping on his smartphone's touchscreen and holding it with one tail to his ear.

Kyuubi spoke at the phone, completely ignoring Naruto's question until the conversation ended.

"Naruto, I'll have to go somewhere far for a while. I have some...business to take care of."

Naruto looked at the fox weirdly. He wasn't sure when it started, but Kyuubi was becoming more independent with each day and more...human-like. A sudden memory started to play at the front of his mind - _'Master! Fuck your slutty kitten harder!'._

 _'I guess I know when it started.'_ he said to himself and he covered his face with his palms at that memory.

"It shouldn't take more than one week...2 weeks at most."

"Two weeks?" Naruto asked in surprise. It was at that moment that he also realized that from the day when he first met Kyuubi in this life, it would be the longest period of time they would be apart from each other.

"Oh well, not like I'm your nanny or anything. You can more than take care of yourself... but just in case you need my help, don't hesitate to reverse-summon me, ok?"

"That won't be necessary." Kyuubi snorted and said arrogantly.

"I'm leaving. Cya!"

"Wait, you mean right now?"

"It's pretty urgent. Not like I have anything to do here anyway." the fox said and, without wasting a second more, he swiftly jumped out of the room through the window.

 _Scene break_

With Kyuubi's sudden departure, Naruto found himself with nothing to do - and he certainly didn't feel like starting to clean up the mess they made in his room. But after leaving his room, he realized that he was alone in the house. On the entrance door of the house, he found a sticky note:

 _ **Barbara and I went to submit my application at the university.**_

 _ **I cooked for you an apple pie, it's in the oven.**_

 _ **Love you,**_

 _ **Misaki**_

"Probably she left without telling me because she didn't want to get in between Kyuubi and I." Naruto chuckled to himself.

A smile lighted up his face when he thought about eating his sister's cooking and he nearly started to drool as he made a beeline to the kitchen. But just as he was about to start gorging himself with the apple pie, it was as though a figurative bulb of light was turned on in his head.

"Wait, the university she wants to apply for is in Metropolis!"

Had it been anywhere in Gotham City, Naruto would have not had any worries about her going out without him. The reason for that was that there was nobody in Gotham that didn't know of her identity - after all, the Uzumaki siblings were the only people with whisker-like birthmarks on their faces. Furthermore, Naruto was very famous by now; there wasn't anybody in the entire USA that wouldn't be able to recognize his face. That said, he wasn't afraid that anyone would dare to attack her in their city.

 _'But Metropolis is full of idiots and metahumans wreaking havoc.'_

While Batman and Catwoman's vicious methods have brought Gotham City to the point where the police stations were facing the problem of not having anything to do most days, Uzumaki Naruto starting to live in the city again after an absence of a few years, further accentuated the change, turning the previous urban jungle into the safest city in USA if not in the entire world.

But Metropolis City was different...and quite paradoxical. Superman was still considered by the general population as one of the most powerful metahumans...The symbol of hope and strength.

However, in spite of that, Metropolis City had one of the highest criminality rates on the Eastern Coast of USA. For some reason, many criminal metahumans were attracted to this city, just like the moths were attracted to fire. Despite knowing that the flame (Superman) would burn them, they still chose to go there, seemimgly uncaring about the danger. Because of that, the city was quite chaotic.

His appetite suddenly, lost, Naruto quickly got up to his feet. Pressing a chakra-coated finger to a wristband he wore on his left hand, a puff of smoke filled the entire kitchen for a moment. When it dissipated a few seconds later, a folded outfit appeared in his hand. Due to the nature of his powers - he could grow bones from all over his body - Naruto always had a few changes of clothes sealed in the wristband he was wearing on his left arm.

After quickly changing in the new clothes and locking up his house and the gates, he started to sprint towards the docks.

Gotham City was in the state of New Jersey, North of Metropolis City, which was located in Delaware. By land, one would need a few good hours to get from one city to another as they would have to go around Delaware Bay. But in a straight line, the distance would be of only around 60 miles (~90km). Crossing the bay with a ferry would shorten the time needed by more than half. Because of that, Naruto was sure that they would take the ferry.

With that thought in mind, he breathed out in relief. If he activated his Raiton no Yoroi, he could reach them before they even got to the docks. And sure enough, he managed to reach the docks in only a few minutes. One phone call later, he was reunited with them just as they were about to board to the ferry - their car had already been loaded.

 _Scene break_

A roar shook the entire area and an entire truck was hurled through the air at a speed that nearly let a sonic boom behind. It was only due to pure luck that Batman managed to dodge it. Even so, when it brushed past him, the wind left in its wake threw him to tens of feet to the side and his body was about to slam into a building. It was only Hal Jordan's timely apparition that saved Gotham's Dark Knight from what could have very well been his death or paralysis for life.

''Hold on, buddy. I'll take care of it in no time!''

Batman tried to say something but blood burst from his mouth. His injuries were terrible.

''Don't worry, Batman. I'm a Green Lantern. We eat monsters like this for breakfast!'' Hal Jordan said confidently and rushed towards the alien lifeform that wreaked havoc in rage.

A giant construct of green light in the form of a jackhammer appeared above the monster and it suddenly started to hammer it into the ground, seemingly flattening the creature.

''See? I told you that I'd-''

Whatever Hal Jordan was about to say was cut off when, by sheer instinct alone, he conjured a protective bubble of green light around him. A bone-covered fist smashed into the newly conjured barrier with ferocity and the Green Lantern was thrown back like a cannonball. He thought he had the time to breathe but the monster was relentless. In the blink of an eye, it appeared above him. It took only a few strikes for the green barrier to shatter like glass under the brute power of the creature. It was just about to deliver the final blow when Martian Manhunter's hand phased through the creature's chest, directly impaling its heart!

A roar of pain came from the creature...but it was only for a second. A moment later, a deep, hoarse voice came from its mouth:

''I've had my heart destroyed before. That won't work on me again!''

Slightly turning to the side, a vicious backhand slammed into the body of the Martian Manhunter and the force of the blow launched him like a rocket into the tank of a nearby gas station. The gas station exploded with a deafening boom and an unearthly scream of agony came from the alien superhero as the flames started to devour his body.

All of a sudden, a large ray of heat vision hit the monster head on. With his entire body bruised and battered, Superman stood up from the rubble beneath which he had been previously buried.

 _'Superman from the Justice Lords of the other dimension had lobotomized it first with his heat vision last year. I tried to do it earlier too but, it didn't work anymore.'_

 _'Martian Manhunter crushed its heart but even that did not work. Its body is so durable that it shattered Wonder Woman's sword with its bare fist alone...not even a Kryptonian could do that to a magical weapon of that quality.'_

 _'Batman's bombs and mines have no effect whatsoever, telepathic attacks do not work on it, Cyborg's lasers seem useless as well and the two Green Lanterns barely lasted a few moments against it.'_

Superman was at the end of his wits. He didn't know how to deal with the creature in front of his eyes. Nothing from the Justice League's arsenal seemed to have any effect on it. Almost all of the core members of the Justice League had been defeated, with some of them not being certain to survive.

At that moment, it felt as though time slowed for Superman. He looked at his comrades and friends: Batman was unconscious, his left arm bent in an unnatural angle. Wonder Woman was laying in a crater in the road, her unmoving body full of blood. Cyborg's chest was caved in and his right arm completely shredded from the elbow; the 2 Green Lanterns, Hawkwoman, Flash and Steel were nowhere to be found, buried under the collapsed buildings around them. Martian Manhunter was unconscious, his body covered by 3rd-degree burns.

 _'This can't go on...'_

 _'I have to let it go.'_

 _'I will no longer hold back.'_

 _'Even if it kills me, I will stop it.'_

 _'Even if I die, I will gladly trade my life to save everyone else!'_

A scream of anger burst from Superman's chest and a sonic boom was left behind him. A devastating shockwave levelled all the surrounding buildings as his punch collided against the monster's bone-covered chest. The creature was thrown back as though it was hit by a speeding train and its body broke through several buildings until it finally dropped into the sea.

 _'I have to lead it away from Metropolis!'_

Sorrow and rage filled his heart at the thought of how many innocent people were killed by the beast's rampage. That rage empowered him like never before and, just as the creature jumped out from the water, he was upon it. The fabrics of reality itself seemed to bend as Superman's heel collided into the cracked armour-like bone that covered its chest. The bone chest piece was completely shattered and the creature roared in great pain. The force behind the blow so enormous that its body was instantly thrown miles up in the air, almost leaving the Troposphere. Superman did not want to give it any time to catch a breath. He was instantly above it, his right fist in the position to deliver another devastating blow, when the grey monster defied the laws of physics as it abruptly turned in mid-air. Its forearm covered in bony protrusions caught the Man of Steel with a crushing lariat, flipping him upside down. Superman didn't even have the time to react before the monster's double hammer fist smashed against his spine, catapulting him towards the ground with such a speed that his suit began to catch on fire from the friction with the air, like a meteorite.

 _Scene break_

''Argh! What the hell is with this traffic, we've been stuck on this damned bridge for half an hour already!'' Naruto complained from the backseat of the car.

Barbara Gordon, who was on the driver's seat, was also tapping with her fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. Out of the three persons in the car, only Misaki was still calm, idly surfing the internet on her tablet.

''I'm really tempted to just dump this car, take you on my back and sprint on foot to your University and back. If I had done that from the beginning, we would have been home already by now!''

''You know we can't do this! What would all the students and the professors think of me if I suddenly appeared in front of the university riding on my brother's back?!'' Misaki said scandalized.

''Heeeh~ So you don't like a piggyback... Maybe a princess-carry would suit you better?'' Barbara asked, an insidious smile on her face.

''That's completely beside the point, Barbara!'' Misaki yelled in embarrassment, her face gradually turning of the same colour as her crimson-red hair.

''I was thinking of carrying you only up until we got closer and then enter the university by foot, like normal people. Who would've thought my cute little sister had that kind of fantasies running through her brain?! You pervert!'' Naruto also said. (1)

Seeing both Naruto and Barbara ganging up on her like that, Misaki could only cover her ears with her hands and bury her face into her knees in an attempt to 'cut herself off from reality'.

''Barbara, onii-chan, I swear I'll get back at you for this!'' her muffled yells came, which only made Naruto and Barbara start cackling even harder than before.

Naruto was just about to say one witty teasing remark when what felt like a massive earthquake shook the entire bridge terribly. Screams of panic and terror filled the air when what appeared to be a burning meteorite crashed into the mid-section of the bridge, instantly destroying it and killing every living being in range. A series of ruptures started to spread from the large hole in the bridge and one car after another began to fall into the churning waters of the river below.

Misaki and Barbara were not any better either as they were also petrified in fear at the sight of the rupture in asphalt rapidly advancing towards their car to swallow them as well. It was at that moment that, with a black-lightning coated palm strike, Naruto completely obliterated the ceiling of the car. One cross-shaped hand-seal later, a Shadow Clone popped up in existence next to him. The original and clone both grabbed one of the two red-haired girls each and then, as one, they pushed with their feet against the floor of the car, instantly jumping to over 100 feet away from the bridge, safely landing on top of the water.

And they had done it not a moment too late seeing as, a split of second just after they safely landed on top of the water, a large and grey humanoid creature covered in bone spikes crashed into one of the still standing parts of the bridge, the structure of steel and reinforced concrete crumbling like wet sand beneath its feet.

The roar of victory that came from the depths of the creature's chest shook the sky. With its gleaming and cruel red eyes locked on a blue-costumed man that was struggling to keep himself floating on the water's surface, the monster jumped to deliver the finishing blow.

* * *

AN: Doomsday is here! Mwahahah! I hope you liked the chapter, especially the cliff at the end *evil cackle*. No seriously, don't kill me now lol. If it makes you feel any better, the next chapter will be pure badassery. Look forward to it!

 _ **(1) Just in case some hpeople have forgotten: biologically, Naruto is the younger sibling, while Misaki is the older one. Currently, Naruto is nearly 20 y old, while Misaki is 22. That said, Misaki often calls Naruto as her ''big brother'' (onii-chan) because of how he had always looked after her and protected** **her** **like a big brother would have done. She looks up to him as such. From the beginning of the series until now, almost 4 years have passed.**_ Just wanted to make this clear once again, so there would be no confusion.

Till next time, cheers!

 _(Not an English native and I got no beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	45. Chapter 45 - Fight to the death (2)

AN: You were asking for a longer chapter. Although it's mostly action scenes - which usually come out as kinda easy for me to write - this chapter proved to be more difficult to write than I thought. It took me a few long hours to finish it. Well, here is it: enjoy!

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello'_ \- thinking

* * *

 _Previous chapter_

 _And they had done it not a moment too late seeing as, a split of second just after they safely landed on top of the water, a large and grey humanoid creature covered in bone spikes crashed into one of the still standing parts of the bridge, the structure of steel and reinforced concrete crumbling like wet sand beneath its feet._

 _The roar of victory that came from the depths of the creature's chest shook the sky. With its gleaming and cruel red eyes locked on a blue-costumed man that was struggling to keep himself floating on the water's surface, the monster jumped to deliver the finishing blow._

* * *

 **Chapter 45 - Fight to the death (2)**

Barely managing to swim to the surface of the water, Superman only had time to take one breath before a devastating blow smashed against his face. Doomsday's punch forcefully sank the Man of Steel back to the bottom of the river and waves tens of feet high were spurned by the impact, flooding the entire riverbank and demolishing what was left of the bridge. The hundreds of people stuck with their cars on the bridge all fell into the water below and got crushed under massive slabs of concrete once the bridge completely broke down and fell on them.

Naruto watched the destruction with his eyes widened. It was the first time he witnessed something like that. He had killed many people before - but they were all either death row metahuman prisoners, crazy psychopaths in an asylum or corrupted government officials. He had never willingly killed innocents...

"Don't look!" Naruto said grimly, burying his sister's face into his chest in an attempt to stop her from witnessing the cruel scene in front of them. But even then, he could do nothing to stop Misaki from hearing the screams of terror coming from the people as they were crushed under the demolished bridge.

In his current life, before he met Galatea, Naruto has never cared about other people except for his sister, grandfather and - to a certain extent - Misaki's best friend, Barbara too. As a teenager roaming Gotham City's streets, he had seen more times than he cared to count innocent people getting robbed, beaten or even killed. It never really bothered him. They were strangers. He had no obligation whatsoever to risk his life to save them. They meant nothing to him. He had truly lived by the words that he said to the Doctor Fate from the future: _'I will never - absolutely never - sacrifice mine or my loved ones' happiness for the sake of others'._

But despite his general indifference towards other people, witnessing the cruel scene in front of his eyes, he was left stunned.

 _'So many people were killed!'_

Not for the first time, he was forced to acknowledge how frail and insignificant human beings were. How the weak were like ants in front of the powerful. But the thought that popped in his mind next, made his heart turn cold:

 _'What if I didn't reach Misaki in time?"_

 _"What if I didn't remember that her university was in Metropolis, not in Gotham?'_

His face became livid.

 _'She would have died...just a random name amongst the other hundreds of people that lost their lives today.'_

After more than 3 years of grieving and suffering from thinking that his only remaining family was gone, he had been blessed to get his sister back into his life. It was a miracle. It was the happiest period of time that he had ever experienced in any of his 2 lives. But now, he had been one breadth away from losing everything again!

His arms unconsciously tightened around his sister, making her grunt in pain.

''Naruto?''

Hearing her scared voice, he immediately got a hold of himself. He was about to apologise when a scream of fury reverberated in the atmosphere. Naruto and his shadow clone quickly jumped away from the river and broke into a sprint towards Gotham, in the opposite direction of Metropolis. A layer of blue charka glowed at the surface of his and his clone's body and covered the girls in their arms. With them now protected against the crushing pressure of the wind, they seemed to blur as their speed increased exponentially. It was faster than the speed even a racing car could ever hope to achieve. It took less than two minutes for them to reach their home, back in Gotham City. Any other normal day, the girls would have been super enthusiastic about how fast they had travelled and would have asked a lot of questions but, at that moment, they were still shocked by the tragic scene they had witnessed.

When he arrived home, Naruto and his clone let go of the girls and the later dispelled. He was about to unlock the door when he felt someone grabbing hin from the arm.

"Naruto...all those people..."

It was Barbara Gordon. Her voice was trembling and her eyes swimming in tears. Even someone like Naruto was rattled by the death of so many innocents, let alone a rather ordinary girl like her. And he understood what was she trying to say: that if he had immediately engaged the monster, he could have stopped the deaths of many people... But that would have meant to leave Misaki and Barbara to fend for themselves. And his priorities were clear in his mind.

"All those people...were strangers." Naruto said slowly. "Make no mistake, Barbara. I'm no hero. I don't care about the greater good and other such bullshit. I would never trade my family's life for that of the strangers."

"Misaki's safety is more important to me than the lives of a thousand."

Every time he thought of that, his despise for Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Itachi from his former life only continued to grow. In his eyes, the 4th Hokage was a bastard for sacrificing his son for the sake of the village while Uchiha Itachi was one of the worst human beings, even worse than the Joker. He could not fathom the thought of someone killing his parents, cousins, uncles, his entire family, for the sake of "peace".

For Naruto, his family was sacred. There was nothing that was more important than that. For all he cared, as long as his sister, Galatea and Kyuubi were fine, millions could very well just die.

 _'Heck, I'll kill thousands with my own hands if that's what it takes to make sure they are safe.'_

As he entered the house, he led Misaki to the sofa in the living room and lighted up the fire in the hearth to warm up the house. He brought a thick blanket from his room and covered his sister with it, up till her nose. He planted a soft kiss on her forehead and said:

"I'll go make you a mug of hot chocolate. I'll be right back, ok?" Misaki could still not trust her voice to reply to him, only nodding her head obediently. The girl was still in shock from the events that had transpired.

In less than 2 minutes, Naruto was back with a steaming cup of hot chocolate. When he entered the living room, however, his eyes fell on the large screen of their TV. On it, filmed from a helicopter, a dramatic clash was taking place.

 _Scene break_

A scream of anger burst from the chest of a blonde girl and a shockwave boomed when her deceptively feeble punch smashed against the grey monster's jaw. The force behind the blow was immense, throwing Doomsday to several hundred feet away, spiralling.

"Clark! Clark! Where are you?" the girl yelled desperately, on the verge of tears.

Activating her X-ray vision, she quickly spotted Superman, lying unconscious at the bottom of the river. With her heart in her throat, the girl plunged into the water to rescue her cousin. But she didn't get to fully submerge when something with the force of a speeding train unexpectedly hit her in the back. Her red cloak was ripped to shreds by the hit and she was sent crashing into the riverbank like a cannonball.

Supergirl's shaky hands pushed against the ground to lift herself up when the monster landed next to her. A large, iron-like hand wrapped around one of her slender legs and she was suddenly smashed brutally against the ground...several times! The girl was left in a crater, blood flowing from a corner of her mouth and one of her legs broken. The monster came above her intent to finish her off but a sonic scream impacted it face first, hurling him backwards, tumbling. The scream continued to persist and the beast roared in pain as it tried to cover its ears with its hands.

But eventually, Black Canary ran out of breath and the sonic scream stopped. Even so, the beast was not given any respite. An enormous sledgehammer smashed against its spine, a crater forming beneath it as its body was flattened against the ground.

Even though his cracked armour and his bloodied face would make Steel cut a sorry figure in other circumstances, at that moment, when he lifted the large sledgehammer with both of his hands above his head, his figure was awe-inspiring. A cry of exertion came out of his chest as he forced the entire strength of the muscles in his calves, back and arms to smash his hammer against the beast's back once again, making it roar in pain.

"Steel, you've done enough. You're on your last legs, fall back! Rescue Superman from the bottom of the river and escape!" a new voice was heard and Steel lost the grip on his hammer, finally reaching his limit. Abandoning his weapon, Steel jumped into the river to rescue the one person he admired the most in his life.

The newcomer was a seemingly naked man, with a light-blue skin and an atom-like red symbol on his chest. Captain Atom was a relatively new member of the Justice League but despite that, he had quickly earned the others' respect as a powerhouse on the level of Superman and Wonder Woman themselves. Therefore, in such a dire situation, Steel and the other surviving members of the league had no qualms about listening to his instructions.

"Black Canary, take Supergirl and retreat! I'll take care of this monster myself."

It was extremely brave of Black Canary to come and attack Doomsday. But the blonde woman had known from the beginning that it wasn't a fight she could fight. One hit from the monster and she would be dead. It was on another level altogether. Even so, had Captain Atom not made his apparition, she would have fought to her death with no hesitation if her stalling managed to offer the civilians that were still around even half a minute more to escape. That had been her resolve when she had joined the battle. But she didn't question Captain Atom's order. Gently grabbing Supergirl's lithe body in a princess carry, she began to run away from the site of the battle.

On the riverbank, it was only Captain Atom and Doomsday left. The beast got up to its feet breathing roughly but the superhero did not dare underestimate it. In the next moment, it wasn't only his arms that were suddenly engulfed by a red haze of radiation, but his entire body! With a battle cry, an enormous ray of red radiation burst from Captain Atom's entire body and completely engulfed the bone-covered monster.

But then...a deep rumble akin to the chuckle of a demonic being came from Doomsday. The beam of radiation had melted the entire side of the riverbank and even the river's water was instantly evaporated on a segment of several hundreds of feet from the extreme heat...the corpses of the hundreds of people that had been crushed by the bridge and drowned in the river were evaporated as well, nothing could withstand the heat... but in spite of that, the monstrous being that was suffering the full brunt of the attack was slowly advancing through the radiation beam as though it was nearly immune to it.

 _'HOW?!'_ Captain Atom screamed to himself in disbelief.

Right before crashing on Earth, Doomsday's last death had been at the hands of Radiant, an alien lifeform wielding powers similar to those possessed by Captain Atom. And Doomsday could not be killed twice in the same manner. It was now immune to it. At the very least, radiation could not fatally wound it anymore.

The monster's large, bony fist smashed against the superhero, breaking the radiation beam and flinging him all the way to the other side of the riverbank. Captain Atom tried to take flight once he got a hold of himself but a searing pain suddenly burst from the side of his torso - a bone spike as large as his very forearm had impaled him. Particles of radiation began to pour out of his wound in a show of yellow and blue light and Captain Atom cried out in distress.

He didn't fear for his life - for all he knew, he was nigh immortal. He hadn't found out anything that could kill him yet. But he was losing control over his powers. And once he completely lost it, an explosion not any less powerful than an atomic bomb would take place. His body would reform later on, but millions of people would be killed!

Before his suit completely destabilized, Captain Atom left an afterimage behind him as he flew high up in the air at the fastest speed he was capable of. And only a few seconds late, at over 10 miles above the city, an enormous explosion illuminated the night sky like a miniature sun.

The light and the intensity of the explosion awoke Supergirl from her state of unconsciousness and just with a look of her X-ray vision, she could see get a grasp of the situation. The pain coming from her broken leg was making her cringe and pant heavily, but the girl clenched her teeth and took flight.

"Supergirl! You can't go back there! You will die!" Black Canary shouted in distress.

But the girl didn't want to listen. Wiping the blood that had yet to dry from her mouth with the shoulder of her white shirt, she flew higher up in the air. Her normally innocent blue eyes held the resolve of steel.

 _'I can't let it go. It will go back after Clark!_ _I have to stop it!'_

When she just took flight, she was slow...and she flew in the opposite direction to that of where Doomsday was. But her speed quickly accelerated. Not long after, she broke the sound barrier!

 _'Faster!'_ She urged herself and her speed soon increased to a level where everything around her transformed into a blur.

 _'Faster!'_ she yelled in her mind and even despite the invisible telekinetic field that coated every Kryptonian's body, her clothes started to catch on fire.

She was flying faster than she had ever done in her entire life... in only a few seconds, she already reached the Western Coast of the North American Continent. But her speed only kept increasing! The Pacific Ocean, Russia, the European continent and then the Atlantic Ocean...she had passed by them, circling the entire planet in less than 10 seconds!

And the bone-covered creature never knew what hit it when a devastating punch collided into its stomach! The shockwave it generated broke the windows of all the skyscrapers all over Metropolis City and the entire river bank became a seemingly bottomless chasm that the rivers' water appeared to be unable to ever fill. Tens of the surrounding buildings were demolished and the impact of the shockwave was felt to tens of miles away. It was the most powerful punch Supergirl had ever thrown.

The arm with which she had punched broke from the wrist and the bones of her forearm snapped from the elbow, protruding through her flesh. She lost all her energy, all her strength, now falling into the enormous rupture in the ground that her own hit had created, her body unable to listen to her brain's commands anymore.

It was then that two powerful arms caught her from mid-air. The girl weakly opened her eyes, her hazy blue eyes unable to clearly see the face of the one who caught her in the darkness of the winter evening - the destruction caused by the fight long had long since plunged most of the Metropolis City in complete darkness from the power being cut. But once he raised his head, the moonlight illuminated his face, letting her recognize him. Her heart sank.

 _'Is this the end?'_ she asked herself and her face took on an expression of despair. _'At least Clark is safe...'_

But her facial expression did not go unnoticed by the one that held her. To her great surprise, an unexpectedly gentle voice came from him:

"Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you."

The man let himself land on the ground and laid the blonde girl on a patch of still intact grass with great care to not upset her grievously injured arm and leg.

"What...what are you doing here?" Supergirl asked in a feeble voice.

"I came to help."

"...Why...why did you save me?" her weak voice sounded once again.

The girl felt the man in front of her cup her cheek with his hand, gently caressing it. Despite the insane amount of pain she felt from her entire body, she still couldn't hide the shock she felt at his actions. After all, the man that caught her was one of the cruellest and violent men she had ever seen in her life.

"To think that girl like you would have that kind of resolve... You were determined to die so you could save your cousin and the others, weren't you?" the man asked, his blue eyes peering into hers.

The girl did not reply to his question but he could see it in her eyes.

"Caring about your family so much that you would be willing to die for them...You've earned my respect!" the man muttered, his hand still softly cupping her cheek. "I will finish what you started. Now rest."

"Wait...the monster...can't be killed 2 times in the same manner...be careful..." she barely managed to say.

"Got it. Now don't worry. Nobody else will be hurt anymore. And nothing will happen to you either. A part of me will remain here, to protect you."

As the man's words ended, a feeling of safety washed over Supergirl. For reasons she could not explain, his sincere words touched her. Unconsciously, she leaned into the hand that was caressing her cheek and her eyes closed.

The man's eyes continued to linger on the girl's bloodied and bruised face.

 _'She isn't any older than my sister.'_

He sighed quietly. Teenagers and, generally, most people on Earth were very different compared to those back in the Elemental Nations. In the shinobi world, everyone lived short and danger-filled lives. Many ninjas did not go past the age of 35. But that cruel life made most of the shinobi become sharp, decisive people - people that would not hesitate in the least to die for their ideals, for their creed. In comparison, most people on Earth lived relatively peaceful lives. They were not accustomed to life and death situations. Their characters were weak and complacent. Not many would have the courage and strength of character to be willing to die for their loved ones, especially not someone as young as Supergirl. That's why he was so impressed by Supergirl's conviction, a girl not older than 20 - the resolve to protect her cousin, her only remaining family, even at the cost of her life...that was something that he could relate to. Something that he could respect.

An exact replica of the man appeared next to him as he stood up.

"Take her somewhere safe. Try to mend her wounds and use the Mystical Palm Technique to stabilize her condition. Treat her as you'd treat me."

"Yes, boss!" the clone replied and nodded seriously.

Another ten clones came into existence in a plume of smoke and immediately disappeared from his sight in a blur of speed. They knew what to do - search and rescue the survivors.

"Now then...I'll make you pay for everything you've done."

Naruto didn't care about strangers that much. He was different compared to his past life where he had risked his life countless times for the villagers that hated and despised him. In his second life, he would only fight for the people that he loved - Misaki, Kyuubi and Galatea. And Doomsday had nearly killed his sister. He had been a breath away from losing his family once again.

 _'Unforgivable!'_

However, even as he thought so, deep into a corner of his heart, Naruto also felt anger at how many innocents had died. Thousands of people were killed during the beast's rampage. Children, women, men, elderly...there was no distinction. They were crushed like ants.

 _Scene break_

Naruto didn't know where to find Doomsday. He had seen it being blasted somewhere towards North-West, but he could not estimate how far it had been launched. He felt himself sigh in amazement every time he replayed in his mind the scene of Supergirl's last punch.

 _'I've never expected a girl like her to ever display such power!'_

As he ran towards Northwest Naruto couldn't help recalling the words of the first person that had ever made a real impact on his personality in his first life:

 _'When a person has something precious they want to protect, that's when they can truly become strong.'_

Haku was the first powerful enemy close to his age that he had encountered in his past life. The two of them had only spoken to each other for a few minutes, but in those few minutes, Haku's words influenced Naruto's life more than anyone else before. In order to protect her cousin, Supergirl surpassed her limits and the power she displayed was above anything else Naruto had ever seen in his current life.

His body surrounded by his Black Lightning Armour, Naruto kept running for more than half an hour at his fastest speed, covering hundreds of miles in the process. Maintaining that crazy pace was rapidly eating at his chakra reserves but he paid it no mind. It was imperative to find the monster before it could recover. As he ran, he kept circulating his chakra, trying to sense any particularly powerful life signatures around him but it was all for nought.

 _'Did Supergirl's last hit actually kill it?'_

He had already crossed the border to Canada and was now at the outskirts of the Quebec city, but there was still no sign of the alien lifeform. There was also no destruction anywhere - and Naruto doubted that the beast was smart enough to lay low until it fully recovered. If it was alive, it would have definitely wreaked havoc wherever it went.

After running at his top speed for nearly 1000 km (~600 miles), he could feel that the chakra reserves in dantian almost depleted. While finding Doomsday as soon as possible was extremely important, he knew that he couldn't do it while he was exhausted. A few minutes later, he was inside one of the McDonald's branches in Quebec City, ravenously devouring one hot dog after another, making the surrounding people watch him with disgusted fascination etched on their faces. Eating was one of the best ways to replenish his energy - and his 2 chakra hearts would convert that energy into chakra in no time.

Once he finished his food and was about to leave the restaurant, a familiar voice resounded in his mind.

 ** _'Mr Uzumaki, I assume you are pursuing the alien beast?'_**

It was weak and the telepathic connection felt unstable, but Naruto could recognize the owner of the voice - reason for which he didn't shout "Kai!" the very second he heard it, to throw the voice out of his mind.

 _'Are you the Martian Manhunter?'_

 ** _'Yes, I am. But I am severely injured, I will not be able to hold the telepathic connection for too long.'_**

Naruto waited in silence for him to continue.

 ** _'Out satellites have localized Doomsday-'_**

 _'Doomsday?'_

 ** _'That's what we call the alien monster that attacked us. He is somewhere in Hudson Bay, at the bottom of the gulf. We have reasons to think that it's still alive.'_**

Naruto was not that well-versed with Geography but even he knew where just a huge mass of water was - Hudson Bay was located somewhere to the North/North-Eastern side of Canada. Because of that, he was stunned speechless for a moment. The centre of Hudson Bay was somewhere around 2500 km away from Metropolis City (~1500 miles)! He had trouble wrapping his mind around 2 things:

 _'How can a punch throw someone to over one thousand miles away and how could the one on the receiving end possibly survive something like that?!'_

He was more than a little startled. But Martian Manhunter did not comment on that. Instead, with the last of his power, he kept the telepathic connection only for a few more seconds to say:

 ** _'I hope you succeed, Uzumaki Naruto. Right now, our fate is in your hands.'_**

 _'I'm not doing this for any of you. If you're not able to stop the beast, it will eventually reach Gotham City as well. I'm doing this for my sister.'_

But Martian Manhunter did not hear his voice. The telepathic connection had ended before that.

 _Scene break_

It was the end of January and Hudson Bay was located in a region with a polar climate. At this time of the year, the entire gulf would be fully covered by a very thick sheet of ice. But at this moment, the ice on the entire Southern half of the bay was cracked in smaller pieces, courtesy to an object that crashed in there.

A large, grey and muscular arm covered in bony protrusions suddenly burst from the water and clung on the edge of the ice. The large figure of the humanoid monster crawled out of the water and laid on the floating piece of ice, seemingly drained of power. The blood coming out of its mouth stained the white ice with a murky, dark red colour. Due to how many times it had died along during the hundreds of thousands of years in his existence and the repeated evolutions it had gone through, Doomsday 'lost' a majority of the internal organs most living creatures possessed - and it was only because of that reason that it was still alive. Otherwise, Supergirl's last hit would have claimed its life.

And even if it somehow survived, it was due to sheer luck - Doomsday had been lying unconscious at the bottom of the bay, for nearly one hour.

Just as Doomsday managed to make its way out of the water and lay on top the ice, a bolt of Black Lightning suddenly slammed into its back! A maddened roar of pain came from the alien monster and the entire ice on hundreds of feet around the place where the lightning struck was evaporated, the beast sinking back into the water.

Naruto patiently waited on top of the water - he did not want to challenge the alien monster underwater. A being that defeated the entire Justice League by itself was not something that he would underestimate, even if it appeared to be injured.

 _'An injured, cornered beast is even more dangerous.'_

His feet abruptly pushed against the surface of the water as the monster burst from below, trying to catch him off-guard. Black Lightning gathering around his fist, Naruto punched below him explosively! A deafening thunderclap-like sound boomed and the monster was thrown back into the water like a rocket, raising massive waves. It was the first lightning technique that Naruto had personally created on the prison island nearly 2 years before with Kyuubi's help, a move that could shatter 3-story sized cliffs into bits.

But only a few moments late, Doomsday burst out of the water again, roaring in rage and seemingly unaffected by the blow it had just eaten!

A blue, crystal-like bone grew through the palm of Naruto's right hand until it reached the length of a sword. Black Lightning covering his entire body and the bone sword as well, Naruto slashed downwards with both of his hands.

The sound of two metal-like objects clashing was heard when Doomsday blocked Naruto's lightning-covered bone sword with the bone protrusions coming out of his forearm. For a moment, Naruto was startled. And that very moment of surprise was enough for the beast's fighting instincts to capitalize on his flaw. Doomsday's left fist smashed against the right side of his head!

Naruto was sent skidding tens of feet across the water. Before his body's momentum ended, the beast's foot collided against him once again, sending him crashing towards the shore. Doomsday had realized that it was at a disadvantage fighting in the middle of the bay because unlike its opponent, it could not fly nor walk on water. Therefore, it decided to take the fight on the land.

 _'Fuck.. what kind of body is that?!'_

 _'My black lightning seems to hurt it, but it didn't cause him any visible injuries...and those bones spikes of his could stop my bone sword!'_

Ever since Naruto had created his own version of Shykotsumyaku - Kimimaro Kaguya's original bloodline limit - it had proven to be an unstoppable weapon for him. Nobody managed to ever block it, not even someone as powerful as Galatea or Superman. His version of Shykotsumyaku was the very reason why Naruto managed to get an almost unfair advantage even against someone as powerful as a Kryptonian.

However, now, for the first time in his life, his bone sword encountered something that it could not cut! Doomsday's bones were not any weaker than his!

Naruto was forced to wake up from his disbelief when the sight of the moon above his head was suddenly obscured by a mass of muscles covered in bone spikes. A crater was formed under the beast's feet but Naruto successfully dodged its attack with a lightning body flicker movement.

 _'Its brute strength is higher than mine, its body resistance is higher as well, and my trump cards - the black lightning and my bone weapons are ineffective against it.'_ Naruto analyzed the situation grimly.

 _'It's like the perfect killing machine.'_

But at that moment, instead of becoming distressed, a strange euphoria suddenly started to course through his veins. The prospect of fighting such a disadvantageous battle excited him beyond what words could express. Just earlier that day he had been complaining about the fact that fights were no longer as satisfying for him as they used to be when he was weaker - when he was just a slightly above average human.

Unconsciously, a bloodthirsty smile stretched across his face and his eyes became slit - not fully activating his self-created doujutsu but initiating it just to give him a slightly improved reaction time. He didn't even try to reign in the laughter that burst from the very depths of his heart:

"Ahahaha! Entertain me more, beast!" he shouted and launched himself at the humanoid monster with a crazed expression on his face.

Crystal-like blue bones grew from all over his torso, elbows and shoulders. From a distance, one would be unable to clearly recognize which was the human and which was the monster amongst the two of them.

Their fists clashed against each other and Naruto was blown back by the alien's strength. But before Doomsday could capitalize on its advantage like before, out of nowhere, a clone's lightning-encased fist exploded in its back, making it sway to the front. The original Naruto's right forearm became disfigured as countless bones grew out of it like a porcupine and he met the beast with a crushing lariat to the neck!

The bones actually bypassed Doomsday's incredible defence and impaled its throat making the beast choke with its own blood as it tried to scream. But the next moment, Naruto felt one of the protruding bones from his torso crack and his body was blown back violently by a devastating blow to the gut. While the exterior bones had protected him this time around from feeling the damage of the hit directly, the leftover vibrations rattled his internal organs and he couldn't help spitting a mouthful of blood himself.

In a burst of speed, Naruto abruptly appeared in front of the beast, trying to smash his fist against its face. Doomsday, intercepted the blow but then, it suddenly found itself kneeling on the ground when 2 Shadow Clones kicked the back of its legs at the same time.

Naruto's left hand clenched into a fist too but then, he pointed his index finger in front of him and shouted:

"Hell Stab!"

It was the most powerful move in the arsenal of the Third Raikage of his past life, also known as the 'The strongest Spear'. It was the very technique that the 3rd Raikage had used to cut off all of the Eight-Tailed beast's tails and defeat it into submission.

Pitch-black lightning condensed around Naruto's left hand and he stabbed towards one of the red eyes of the beast! An inhuman scream came from its throat as Naruto's Hell Stab punctured through its eye! It gouged it out, dug into its skull and incinerated its brain until only ashes were left!

"Fucking cockroach!" Naruto swore but allowed himself to relax, thinking that he had finally managed to kill it...in his mind, nothing could survive its brain being destroyed... but how could he have known that only a few months ago, the monster had become immune to brain damage after Justice Lords' Superman lobotomised it.

Doomsday suddenly grabbed his left arm with both of his hands! The beast roared with ferocity and it viciously slammed him into the ground multiple times, like a ragdoll. When it finally let go of him, the monster straddled its body and began to rain with its fists on his face.

"Kirin!" Naruto barely gasped out under the onslaught and a massive serpent-like dragon of black lightning smashed against Doomsday's body, completely enveloping both of them.

Naruto tried to shunshin away, but seemingly ignoring the pain it felt from the lightning scorching its entire body, the beast suddenly grabbed Naruto by the left arm that he had used to gouge out one of its eyes...and _PULLED_!

A scream of agony burst from Naruto's throat as his left arm was completely torn apart from his shoulder!

"KAI!" Naruto roared and the almost all the chakra he had left was expelled from his body, flinging Doomsday away like a hurricane.

The beast itself was gasping for air. It had suffered too many injuries in a short period of time. Supergirl's last blow alone had nearly killed it and when he was beginning to recover, Naruto had stabbed it in the throat, gouged out one of its eyes and incinerated its brain. The second Kirin also scorched the skin and melted the bone protrusions that covered its back, letting its raw flesh be seen. Doomsday's charred and bloodied silhouette wobbled as it barely got up to its feet, its still intact red eye filled with a crazy desire to kill its enemy.

Naruto on the other side, could not take his eyes off from the arm that was laying in the crater, on the ground next to him...

 _'My arm...!'_

After the Metamorphosis that his body underwent because of the Lightning Tribulation on the prison island, he never thought that someone would ever manage to hurt him to that extent one day. He had thought that his body's toughness and his bones' strength were unbeatable. But the creature in front of him not only cracked his ribcage, it even ripped apart one of his arms.

Tearing his eyes away, he looked at the alien lifeform in front of him. Seeing the beast struggling to lift itself up to its feet and sensing its still unquenched desire to kill, Naruto himself lost control over his own killing intent.

"Just what does it take to kill you, **motherfucker**!?" Naruto roared in rage, his screaming turning demonic towards the end.

A heavy pressure suddenly flooded the entire area and, being at the end of its powers as well, the beast felt its legs tremble under its own weight. A black haze made the darkness of the night even darker and moon appeared as though it was covered by a black veil, greatly dimming its light.

Naruto's tan skin turned grey and two grey bones grew from his forehead, like a demon's horns. His still intact right hand was entirely covered by a construct of bones similar to a spear and long, dragon-like bone tail grew from his spine. The sclera of his eyes turned black and grey scale-like bones grew on his chest and back. (1)

Only an after-image was left in his place and a moment later, the blonde's right arm that had turned into a bone spear fully pierced through the beast's body!

 **"Let's see you survive this, animal!"** his demonic voice was heard and, in the next second, massive bone spikes burst from inside Doomsday's body, impaling it from within.

Foul smelling blood and gore burst from it as its entire body was turned into mincemeat by the bones that were skewering it...and they were its own bones. When Naruto's spear-arm pierced its body, he released the transformation to grab its spine and inject his chakra into it, making the beast's bones' growth go haywire. He had used the beast's own skeleton to kill it.

The light in the alien's sole remaining eye disappeared. Doomsday was dead.

* * *

AN: Doomsday is the biggest boogieman of the DC-verse. I didn't want to make Naruto just single-handedly defeat him and "save the day". Doomsday's defeat was a collective effort. Without the punishment it suffered at the hands of the other heroes (especially Supergirl's last hit), Naruto would have not been able to kill it. And even then, one of Naruto's arms was ripped from his shoulder, he was grievously injured.

(1) Naruto's appearance here is similar to Kimimaro Kaguya's transformation under the effects of the Cursed Seal, check it on youtube - he had used it to defeat Gaara and would have killed him had Kimimaro not died because of his terminal illness just before dealing the finishing blow. Also, remember that Naruto had used this ability one more time in this fic when he invaded Orochimaru's secret base and he fought Galatea (chapter 25).

I tried to give more screen time to the other superheroes and to develop Supergirl a bit more. Do let me know if you liked the interaction between Naruto and her - his acknowledgement of her - and if the action scenes were ok. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Till next time, cheers!

 _(Not an English native and I got no beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	46. Chapter 46 - Virus

AN: To all of you pervs out there, this isn't gonna become a harem no matter how many times you suggest it lol. Probably more than 90% of the fics on this website are harems so there are plenty of other stories where you can get your fix so to speak. This will stay OTP.

''Hello'' - normal talking.

 _'Hello' -_ thoughts.

* * *

 **Chapter 46 - Virus**

In recent years, Metropolis City had seen its fair share of chaos and destruction. Not many years ago, it was Superman himself that had wreaked havoc and caused great destruction. But none of what happened before could be compared with what the alien lifeform called Doomsday has caused during its rampage. Leaving aside the property damage, the loss of human lives was even greater. Over a thousand people died, of which more than half were killed on the bridge.

Two weeks after the incident, the traffic in the city had long since been restored and most of the signs of the previous destruction were quickly disappearing due to the numerous constructions companies that were contracted to rebuild the damaged areas of the city, Cars, buildings and other material goods could be fixed or replaced ... it was the loss of human lives that could not. Although the larger part of the civilians had been evacuated from the city, the beast's rampage had been unstoppable.

Miraculously, there were no casualties amongst the Justice League's ranks. Most of them were hospitalized after the incident but none of them died while others - like Supergirl, Superman and Wonder Woman - have made a full recovery. But that fact in itself highlighted, even more, the price that Uzumaki Naruto had paid in order to stop the beast. And the general public had been made aware of it. Nearly every evening, Uzumaki Naruto's medical situation would be included in the news reports. The reason for that was not only that he had lost his entire left arm but also because after 2 weeks from the incident, Uzumaki Naruto had yet to wake up from the coma he had fallen into after the battle.

 _S.T.A.R. Labs - Canada facility_

S.T.A.R. Labs was a chain of research facilities that specialized in what the general population deemed as futuristic technology and studying metahumans. Originally starting within the USA's borders, S.T.A.R. Labs gradually expanded all over the world. While the headquarters was located in Metropolis City, there were branches in many other countries such as Japan, Canada, Australia and in various states of the European Union as well.

After killing Doomsday, Naruto had reached the end of his endurance. However, the other members of the Justice League that were too weak to join in the fight were monitoring the situation from afar. The satellites at their disposal and the unmanned drones that the League possessed made it possible for them to witness everything that happened clearly. The moment when the alien lifeform died, they teleported from the Watchtower, right at the scene. Since the wounds he had received were so grievous, they couldn't risk teleporting him nor could they transport him all the way back to Gotham City. Instead, they took him to the closest place that could stabilize his condition considering that he was not a normal human - the S.T.A.R. Labs facility from Canada.

At the moment, Naruto was lying unconscious, isolated in one of the rooms of the facility's hospital wing. He was wired to various machines that monitored his vitals, while blood and a complex of vitamins were being infused into his veins. The room had no windows to the outside world, but there was a large, rectangular mirror-like window in the right wall of the room. On the other side of the large window, in the next room, a man suited in a blue costume and a red cape was watching over him.

"What are you doing here again, Kara? Weren't you supposed to be in class right now?" Superman said when the door was opened and a blonde girl in her in her late teens stepped into the room. But Supergirl didn't reply him right away. She came closer to the window, watching the unconscious patient in silence. Superman placed a hand on her shoulder and said:

"I get that you're worried about him, but you've got to understand that being here is not helping him with anything. You shouldn't ditch your lectures at the college now when the 2nd semester just started. You know that the first impression always matters a lot for the professors."

"I ditched a lecture only to get one from you here." the girl grumbled.

A frown appeared on Superman's face. But he didn't pursue the matter.

"He saved my life. He saved our lives, saved us all." Supergirl whispered.

"Indeed. I didn't expect that one day, of all the people in the world, it would be Uzumaki that would come to the Justice League's help." Superman agreed.

Until Doomsday came around, the Justice League used to view Naruto as their archnemesis, putting him on the same level of danger as Darkseid, their most powerful enemy to date. They actually hated Naruto even more because unlike Darkseid, who was like a big bad wolf that loomed in the background and only endangered them once in a while, Naruto lived amongst them! He was like a thorn in their side. They had never expected that he would fight with his life on the line against Doomsday, also saving them all in the process. In their eyes, he had been just a cruel murderer. And now, they all felt conflicted. Supergirl could also not get the words he said to her out of her mind: ' _Caring about your family so much that you would be willing to die for them...You've earned my respect.'_

Those words were haunting her. Until then, she had used her powers for good simply because she thought that it was the right thing to do. Additionally, her cousin, Superman, was a superhero as well. It felt natural for her to get into the "family business". There was no strong resolve behind her deeds and she did not put too much thought into it. But after she nearly died trying to protect Superman, Supergirl discovered her purpose. The words that Naruto said to her only served to further cement her new belief. Supergirl brought her hand in front of her face and clenched it into a fist.

 _'This power ... it's to protect my family. To protect the ones I love.'_

She could vividly recall the enormous power that filled her entire being when she decided to stop Doomsday at all cost. Never before had she reached that incredible speed, never before had she possessed such an insane physical strength.

 _'With only one punch, I've nearly beaten the monster that took down the entire Justice League!'_

The door opened once again and another blonde woman came in. She looked eerily similar to Supergirl but there were still some differences. The corners of her eyes were sharper, she was taller and her body, overall, was more athletic. The short bob cut in which her hair was styled and the way she carried herself let others understand that she had a great deal of confidence in herself. But her beautiful facial features were twisted by a scowl when her eyes fell on the younger girl.

"Why are you here again?" she asked.

Her voice was calm but the other two occupants of the room could feel the hostility in her tone. Superman stepped in front of his cousin in an unconscious attempt to protect her from an eventual attack. Supergirl, however, was not intimidated. If it had been her from before fighting Doomsday, she would have cowered away. After all, the woman in front of her eyes had single-handedly beaten Superman and Wonder Woman into unconsciousness before also killing a bunch of Green Lanterns. Galatea's power was unquestionable. But after the confrontation against Doomsday, Supergirl's belief in her own strength soared. She was no longer terrified of Galatea. Wary? Yes. But not terrified.

Feeling the hostility Supergirl had also begun to radiate, Superman decided to step in before it escalated to a conflict.

"Look, we don't want to harm him or anything." he told Galatea trying to placate her. "After all, it was the Justice League that brought him here. He saved our lives."

Galatea sniffed at his words. Then, she went closer to the window towards Naruto's salon and started watching over his unconscious form, ignoring the other two Kryptonians. A few minutes passed in silence, awkwardly.

"You care about him a lot, don't you?" Superman suddenly said, breaking the silence.

Galatea regarded him for a moment before deciding to reply:

"Yes. I love him."

"What do you see in him?" Superman asked before realizing how rude his words came out and quickly added: "I mean Kara is more into men with darker hair and -"

Despite what he said in the second part, Galatea understood what was the real meaning of his question. Her answer was blunt:

"He may be a murderer in your eyes, but he is a hero for his sister. Things aren't as black as white as you all see it."

Superman scratched his cheek not knowing what to say in response to that.

Galatea continued:

"Also, from what I gathered in the few years I've lived, love is not only about appearance. I don't love Naruto only because of his looks."

Both Superman and Supergirl looked at her wide eyes. They had never expected the one they deemed as "Supergirl's crazy, evil clone" to say such wise words.

"Then, what did you fall in love with at him?" Supergirl asked before she could stop herself. She was really curious because she believed that Galatea was, in a sense, like an alter ego. She was thinking that they were identical.

"Why do you care?"

Supergirl felt her temper rise.

"Why are you always such a bitch to me? I haven't done anything wrong to you, like ever! During these past 2 weeks, you've talked with Superman just fine but whenever you see me, you go all bitch-mode on me!"

But as she said that, an unexpected look of realisation dawned on her face.

"Don't tell me ... you think I'm going to steal him away from you...?!" she asked incredulously.

"No sane man would ever choose you over someone like me!" Galatea said mockingly but, going by the way the temperature in the room seemed to abruptly drop a few good degrees, it appeared as though Supergirl's conclusion was spot on.

Technically, Galatea was not Supergirl's clone 100%. Orochimaru had also used Misaki Uzumaki's genetic material when he created her so she would be born with the ability to wield chakra. But that did not change the fact that her appearance was so similar to the "original" that they could almost be thought of as being twins. While Galatea's body was, indeed, significantly better developed - she had longer and more muscular legs, her breasts were bigger, she was taller and she sported well defined abdominal muscles - Supergirl herself was not ugly either. Furthermore, Supergirl's body had not reached its full maturity yet, so she still had room for growth. Galatea thought that it would not be too far fetched for Supergirl to become just as well endowed as her in a few years.

Galatea ran her hand through her short, bob-cut hair as she glared at Supergirl:

 _'Her hair is longer than mine.'_ she thought as she eyed the longer hair of the other girl. It reached to the middle of her back.

 _'Naruto loves girls with long hair.'_

Supergirl's hair being longer than hers was the only thing Galatea thought that she was falling short when she compared herself to her. That's because, a few weeks ago, she happened to see a moment when Naruto was combing Misaki's waist-length red hair, all the while wearing an expression that she identified as one of amazement on his face. Galatea learned from that incident that Naruto really liked long hair at girls.

During this exchange, Superman could only look helplessly at the two of them.

 _'Why is Kara antagonising the clone for no reason? There's no way she'd actually ever go for someone like Uzumaki ... right? RIGHT?'_ Superman said to himself but the worst case scenario would not stop playing at the front of his mind.

 _'Over my dead body!'_ he nearly let out a growl at the thought that he would one day be forced to attend his cousin's wedding with Naruto.

It was at that moment that the door was opened once again and a doctor stepped inside the room.

"Superman, we finally have the results you've been waiting for. We've managed to discover the cause behind the patient's coma."

The argument between the two girls ceased right away and they focused their attention on the doctor to hear what he had to say.

''We named it the _Doomsday Virus._ ''

''As you very well know, the alien lifeform's ending was rather gory for the lack of a better word. When Mr Uzumaki ability impaled it in multiple places, its blood was splashed all over him. In addition, Mr Uzumaki had a very large fresh wound: at his shoulder, from which his arm had been ripped out. Any open wound is prone to infection in normal circumstances, let alone when we're talking about a pathogen of this - ''

''Doctor, please.'' Galatea suddenly interrupted the medic's ramble. The doctor straightened up his white coat slightly dissatisfied at being cut off but he handed her over some files with enlarged microscopic images.

''These,'' he said and pointed towards what looked like red coloured and spike-covered balls ''are the infectious agents while these,'' he continued by pointing at what looked like blue crystal shards ''are part of his immunity system.''

''His body is strongly rejecting the invading pathogen and the clash between the infection and his immunity system is so intense that his body naturally fell into a coma. You could say that his body automatically ceased all of its functions except for the vitals ones in order to combat the invaders. Which is a very good reaction.''

''How is it good that he is in a coma?'' Supergirl asked.

''If his body didn't reject the virus so strongly, it would be quickly overwhelmed. According to the tests we've made, generally, organisms would be taken over by Doomsday Virus in a matter of days. For humans though, it might take weeks.''

But as soon as he finished his words, the medic found himself being grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted up in the air.

''What tests?'' Supergirl asked in a dangerous tone and her right fist was cocked back, looking about to smash into his face.

Surprisingly, Superman who was usually the one to make Supergirl reign in her temper did not rebuke her this time around. A serious expression marred his face too and it was clear that he was not happy in the least.

''Put him down, for now, Kara.''

Unwillingly, the girl let the man back to his feet but Superman was not done with the situation.

''Listen to me carefully when I say, because I will only say these words once: tell your superiors, your colleagues and whoever is in charge of S.T.A.R. Labs that I have not forgotten what you've done. Dr Hamilton was an employee of yours. And it was because of him and his assistant Orochimaru that Supergirl was cloned.''

''Mark my words, doctor. If any Doomsday clones ever start popping up I will personally see it that every facility owned by S.T.A.R. Labs would be razed off the face of Earth. As for you and the other people? I promise that I will do nothing!''

''I will just sit to the side and watch as Mr Uzumaki over will slaughter you, your family and anyone you've ever cared about. I assume nobody has forgotten yet the massacre that he had caused in Gotham City nearly 4 years ago.''

The doctor's face paled and he didn't dare to even breathe out too loud. But it wasn't only him that was scared senseless, Supergirl was startled by her cousin's words too. She had never heard the ever kind Superman threaten someone in such a dark manner. Although she fully agreed with every word he said, she was still shaken.

Superman continued:

''I don't care if it's another secret organisation of the government that did it, like Cadmus, or if one of S.T.A.R. Labs' employees suddenly goes rogue... S.T.A.R. Labs would do well to take care of their own mess because if they don't, the Justice League will. And it will be permanent. No such 'mishaps' will ever be overlooked again.''

During the past few years, it was not just Batman that had changed. Although his change of mentality was the most radical, the other members of the Justice League were not left unaffected either. The reason for that was that way too many grave incidents happened in a very short timeframe, of only 3 years and a half:  
\- the Joker causing the death of over 400 people,  
\- Naruto causing the Arkham Massacre,  
\- Project Cadmus creating a clone of Supergirl,  
\- the Thanagarians invading and nearly taking over the Earth for good,  
\- the global unrest caused by the League of Shadows that nearly triggered a Third World War,  
\- the mortal clash against Naruto which ended with deaths amongst the Justice League's ranks,  
\- nearly dying in a nuclear explosion that devastated the Northeastern side of the European continent,  
\- and lastly, watching Doomsday killing over a thousand people and being unable to stop it.

It was not possible for all of these situations to not mark the persons that experienced them. And Superman had been slightly affected too. He realized that always being the ''nice guy'' that would not hurt even a fly if it was not necessary was not cutting it anymore. He was beginning to think that he should make more use of the great power that he possessed. He was starting to believe that there were moments when a forceful approach was needed. That sometimes - like with Doomsday - he would need to let go of all of his inhibitions and let loose. To use lethal force.

 _Scene break_

''Tea, I'm not paralyzed. I can walk by myself just fi-''

''Be quiet and sit down obediently. Don't make me force you! The doctors recommended a period of rest of at least 6 weeks!''

''That's for a normal human. You and I both know that I'm anything but normal.''

The two looked at each other pointedly as if to see who would be the one to first break the eye contact. Galatea was the one to do it and her eyes fell on his left shoulder, from which an arm was missing. Her breath caught in her neck and she felt her eyes starting to sting. She didn't even realize that tears were falling from her eyes.

Naruto brought up his remaining hand and softly wiped the tears on her left cheek.

''You know that it wasn't your fault, right?'' he said seriously.

Galatea did not seem to register his question but she leaned into his touch and brought her hands to his own.

''Just ... just let me take care of you ... please!''

Naruto stopped arguing and sat down, back on his wheelchair. In truth, it has been only 2 days since he woke up from his coma. His body was still very weak and he felt as though he was drunk whenever he stood up on his feet for more than a few minutes straight. Eliminating the Doomsday Virus' invasion had taken a big toll on his body. Because of that, the doctors advised Galatea to not let him do anything strenuous in the following 6 weeks.

Galatea went to the bathroom to wash the traces of crying from her face, coming back after only a few minutes.

''Ready to go?'' she asked as she got behind the wheelchair and started pushing it towards the door. Soon, they were out of their courtyard and heading towards a public park close to their home.

A few minutes later, the two were slowly walking on one of the more private alleys of the park where there were fewer people passing by. They were walking silently, simply enjoying each others' company and admiring the beautiful snowy scenery around them. Despite being close to the end of February, the cold had yet to go away.

''We missed Valentines' Day this year.'' Naruto said suddenly. He had still been in a come at that time.

''We don't need a particular day to show what we feel for each other. We can do it just as well in any other day.'' Galatea replied.

''Oh? And what is that you feel for me?'' Naruto asked teasingly. Although she was pushing the wheelchair from behind and could not see his face, she could hear the smile in his voice.

Galatea stopped pushing the wheelchair. She came forward and bent down to his eye-level. She cupped his scarred cheeks with her hands and gently caressed them as she said:

''I love you!''

Then, she closed her eyes and her lips pressed against his in a kiss, pouring her heart into it. When it ended, her hands were still cupping his face and she leaned her forehead against his, continuing to keep her eyes closed, savouring the intimacy.

''Tea... are you sure about this?'' Naruto's asked, his voice choked with emotion.

He had dreamed of such a moment for decades. Finding a woman like Galatea always seemed like nothing but a pipe dream to him. Be it either his past life or his current one, it was the first time that the girl he liked would return his affection. In his past life, Sakura would never give him the time of the day.

''...are you ok with someone like me?''

Galatea knew what he was referring to. Now, he was missing an arm. He was a handicapped person.

''Naruto?'' she called out.

''Yes?''

''I love you!'' she said sincerely, her baby blue eyes overflowing with the feelings she held for him.

He bit his lower lip and his eyes fell to his feet.

''Say it ... say it again, please!'' he whispered.

Galatea raised his face by the chin, making him look her in the eye again as she said one more time:

''I love you!''

Suddenly, Naruto sat up to his feet and Galatea did so too at the same time. Using his only arm, he brought it around her waist and pressed her body against his in a tight hug. Galatea also embraced him to her chest. A shiver of delight travelled through her body and her face became filled with happiness when Naruto buried his face in the crook of her neck and whispered close to her ear: ''I love you too.''

They stayed in each others' arms for a long time, seemingly lost in their own world. But eventually, Naruto shifted in her arms and Galatea realized that he was starting to become tired from standing on his feet for too long. She broke the hug and led Naruto to a nearby bench where they sat down next to each other. She sat to his right side, and she interlocked her fingers with his as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

''I've never thought that a girl like you would ever tell me that she loves me. Especially not after ... this!'' Naruto said quietly, his eyes falling on the empty left sleeve of his leather jacket.

''Don't sell yourself short. You're really handsome.'' Galatea said and brought his hand up to kiss the back of his palm.

''Handsome? Even now, when I'm handicapped?''

''Yes, even now.''

''And you don't regret that-''

''I don't.'' she said before he could even finish his words. ''If there's anything I regret, it's that I wasn't with you when you went after that monster.''

It was the reason why she felt guilty whenever she looked at his missing left arm. When Doomsday attacked, she had been in Gotham, attending a seminar about Personal Development and Social Behaviour. She had had no idea that while she was casually attending a psychology conference, Naruto was having a life and death battle somewhere in the frozen wastes of Canada. Later on, when she learned the truth, she was devastated.

''It wasn't your fault.'' Naruto said. ''It was mine. It's because I wasn't strong enough.''

Galatea didn't acknowledge his words about him being weak. Instead, she said:

''I won't ever leave you alone again. Even when you grow old and ugly, I will still stay by your side. I promise.'' Galatea said sincerely and Naruto couldn't help finding it amusing how she worded out her admittedly sweet confession.

''You're speaking as if I'm gonna be the only one that'll grow old and ugly.'' he said an laughed.

''That's right. Because of my Kryptonian physiology, under the effects of the yellow sun, the ageing process of my body is severely impaired. Because of it, after reaching maturity, the ageing process of a Kryptonian's body would slow down to the point where it's possible that they could live centuries or even more.''

Naruto grew silent at her words. For a while, nobody said anything. Eventually, he couldn't help asking again:

''Are you-''

But now, Galatea glared at him having lost her patience at him doubting her.

''Yes, I am, stop asking stupid questions.''

''In the first place, what made me fall in love with you was not your face or your body, regardless of how handsome I think you are. So you becoming old won't stop me from loving you.''

Despite the blush that suddenly made its way on his face, Naruto asked:

''Then what?''

''Don't make me say it now, idiot!'' she jeered at him flustered.

''C'mon, you can't just leave me hanging like that!'' he protested.

''No... you tell me first. Tell me what you like at me and then I'll tell you too! And don't tell me that it's my boobs or I'll kick your ass! Serious!"

Naruto looked at her offended.

''I'm not gonna say your boobs aren't great -'' Naruto began and Galatea started to growl at him ''- but having great boobs isn't anywhere close to being enough for me to fall for you. I'm not the type to start drooling after the first pair of tits I see and it's not like I haven't seen others like yours before either.''

Naruto suddenly wheezed as he felt the air leave his lungs when Galatea suddenly delivered a mean cross to his liver.

''Hey, hey! Easy there, injured, handicapped person here!''

''Don't think that playing the injured gets you out of having your ass kicked from saying stupid things!'' she said in annoyance. ''When did you even see my naked tits, huh? Have you been spying on me in the shower? And what's with that about you having seen more than just one pair of boobs?!'' she almost yelled scandalized.

Naruto was beginning to sweat.

''I swear that came out wrong. That's not what I meant!''

''Hee~ then what did you mean?''

''I meant to say that you're very beautiful,'' - a traitorous smile appeared on Galatea's face despite her attempts to look stern - ''but just being beautiful would not be enough to make fall for a girl.''

''You're very powerful, you're loyal and I know that I can trust you with my life. That's what I wanted the most in a girl. I never wanted my lover to be a damsel in distress. I have my sister for that.''

''What I wanted was someone on whom to rely on. Someone that would be capable to stand by my side, as an equal. A relationship where we would both support and take care of each other.'' Naruto said passionately.

A couple that happened to pass by their bench at that moment overheard Naruto's passionate words and they couldn't help stopping and looking at him in genuine surprise. They were two middle-aged people, enjoying a simple stroll in the park on their off day. The two of them had been so surprised because Naruto's view on relationships was very mature. It was not common for them to see such a young man treating a relationship with so much seriosity. They knew how fickle and frivolous most young people were, as even their own son was like that too.

However, they soon realized that they were staring and quickly moved along, though not before looking back at them once more, just in time for them to see Galatea suddenly glomping on him and mash her lips against his hungrily.

 _'Ah, true love is beautiful regardless of age.'_ the woman thought and she felt her husband's hold on her hand tightening for a moment, his smile telling her that he was probably thinking about the same thing.

* * *

AN: I hope this chapter cleared any remaining doubt that this is NOT going to be a harem. Galatea is too jealous to ever allow any other girls to come anywhere close to Naruto and Naruto simply loves her too much to care about any other girl. This ship is Naruto/Galatea and it will sail all the way. Hopefully, you didn't get diabetes from reading this chapter.

 _(Not an English native and I have no beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_

 **PS: Now, with Doomsday dead, this story only has 2 arcs left (at least that's how I planned it when I just thought out the plot for the fic, before I started to write it). That said, assuming that I will manage to update regularly, ''Live and Let Die'' will soon come to an end.  
Keeping that in mind, would you be interested in reading a rewritten version of _Gorgoneion_? I could start the rewrite once I finish with this story. If you are a Harry Potter fan as well, please vote in the poll that I put on my profile.**


	47. Chapter 47 - Acknowledgement

AN: For those interested, I have started the rewrite for **Gorgoneion** , a Harry Potter fic. There already are 3 chapters published, with the 4th hopefully coming out before the end of the week. Also, once you are done reading the chapter, please read the AN at the end too. It is important. Enjoy!

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello' -_ thoughts.

* * *

 **Chapter 47 - Acknowledgement**

"T-This isn't going too well." Misaki stuttered when she saw _purple_ smoke coming out of the kitchen.

Rather hesitantly, she sat up from the sofa in the living room and went to the kitchen.

"Galatea?"

A blonde woman wearing a stained apron stepped out with a distraught expression on her face.

"I don't think cooking is for me. I'm just... not wired for this." Galatea said after she got out of the kitchen and shut the door after her, to prevent the smoke from spreading into the rest of the house. She plopped herself on the floor in an unladylike manner and rested her back against the wall of the hall.

During the previous month, while Naruto was in a coma following his deadly encounter with Doomsday, Galatea and Misaki have become much closer than they used to be. Beforehand, Galatea had already resolved herself to become more sociable, to "grow up" so she had already planned on getting more friendly with the sister of the man that she loved. Therefore, Naruto becoming bedridden only made the entire process of them becoming friends much smoother. After all, they both cared about Naruto and him being in such a perilous situation brought them closer.

 _'She looks so down.'_ Misaki thought. Coming next to her, she asked:

"Why are you so fixated on learning how to cook?"

It was the blonde's third failed attempt at cooking that week.

"What kind of woman doesn't know how to cook?" Galatea retorted.

"That's an outdated, sexist concept! We're not living decades in the past. At what psychology course did you learn that?! Cooking is not mandatory for women! If they want to cook, sure, they can, but it's not the end of the world if they don't. Nobody can be good at everything. Cooking just happens to be something you're not good at."

The blonde perked up a bit at Misaki's words but she quickly went back to her mood when she thought what Barbara told her when they initiated their friendship

"Barbara told me that the best way to a man's heart was through his stomach..."

Misaki did not even try to stop herself from bursting into giggles.

"Ok, that sounds like something Barbara would say. Come, let's clean things up before my brother comes back."

Sitting up, Misaki gave Galatea a hand, out of habit. She felt herself become red in the face when she realized that Galatea was someone that could fly and crush rocks in her hands. She wasn't someone that needed help to stand up. Misaki was about to quickly retract her hand when Galatea actually reached out and took it!

"Thank you!" Galatea said and went back to the kitchen to clean up the mess that she had made.

In the meantime, Misaki looked at her own hand, very surprised that the other girl had actually reached for it. It was just a simple act, but it was something that Galatea from a few months ago would have never done. Before, her most likely reaction would have been to raise a mocking eyebrow at the hand extended for her and say something snarky or sarcastic in response.

 _'She's changed so much as of late.'_ Misaki thought, a small smile appearing on her face.

Misaki had still not forgotten how, a few months before, Galatea melted off the skin all over her brother's face and torso. It had taken her a long while to get used with the idea that Naruto actually fell in love with someone that tried to kill him, someone whom he had also nearly killed before. Every time she thought about it, she would marvel.

 _'It's like out of a fairy tale.'_

However, over the past few months, she lost all of the ill feelings that she used to have against the blonde. She watched every day her efforts in trying to become a better person, a better girlfriend, a better woman.

 _'She makes him happy. I can see it in his eyes every time he_ _looks at her.'_

With that thought in mind and a small smile on her face, Misaki went after Galatea, to help her with the cleanup.

 _Scene break_

"Rupert, Rupert... I thought we were partners or something like that?"

The person in question, a very fat man in his twenties with a round face, threw a pitiful look at Naruto, his small and beady eyes becoming wet with unshed tears.

"H-He made me swear not to tell you where he went!" the fatty said, his voice shaking.

Naruto didn't really know how to act. Rupert Jones seemed to be more afraid of Kyuubi than he was of him.

 _'I could threaten him into spilling the beans...'_

Despite thinking like that for a moment, he decided against it. Rupert had helped him more than a few times until then. Despite that he had no combat power, Naruto valued his talent in hacking and information gathering. While they could not call each other friends, Naruto had a favourable opinion about him.

"Where did that furball go?" Naruto said mostly to himself before turning his attention back to Rupert, an action that made the fatty almost jump in his seat.

Naruto sighed.

"I admit I can be pretty damn scary when the situation calls for it but, seriously dude, you gotta chill down a bit. Have I ever hurt you ever since we left the Prison Island?"

"N-No." the fatty said.

Rupert could see that Naruto smiled a lot more and that he had become so much calmer in the past few months compared to how he was when he was brought to the Prison Island at first. He seemed happier and he stopped oozing killing intent like before.

That said, while Rupert could see the truth in Naruto's words, he would still never be able to fully relax in his presence. Rupert was finding it impossible to forget that he was the sole survivor out of the over 200 convicts on the Prison Island. He would never forget how, in an instant, a forest of massive bone-like spikes had suddenly covered the entire island and massacred hundreds of metahumans like cattle.

"Look, I won't get you in trouble with Kyuubi - I know what an ass he can be sometimes. Just tell me if he's in danger."

A nervous chuckle came from the fatty.

"Him, in danger? We're talking about the same person, right?"

Naruto laughed at his words. Though, inwardly, he did not fail to notice how Rupert referred to Kyuubi as a 'person'.

"Ok, I won't keep you the entire day. But, before I leave, is there anything you think I should know?"

"Hm... did you know that they've raised a statue for you in Quebec?" (1)

"Wait, what?!" Naruto exclaimed wide-eyed and came next to Rupert's chair to look at the screen of his laptop.

Rupert simply typed in the searching engine 'Uzumaki Naruto memorial' and clicked on the Image section.

It was a 7 feet tall stone statue, depicting a tall, bare-chested muscular man. But, while the face of the statue was rather unique - there were 3 whisker-like marks carved on the cheeks - what attracted everyone's attention was its torso. Numerous spike-like bones were protruding from its ribcage. Another unique thing about the statue was that it was missing its left arm, from the shoulder. It depicted Naruto after his battle against Doomsday, the stone sculpture having the same size as the original body (it was 7 feet tall together with the height of the pedestal). The sculptor's attention to details had been so great that the statue almost appeared as though it was alive. One was able to _feel_ how Naruto must have been at the end of the battle: exhausted, dizzy with agonizing pain, at the end of his powers.

Even Naruto, who had nothing in common with art, could recognize that the statue was a masterpiece.

"Actually, it was on the news this morning that Gotham City's mayoralty is willing to pay millions of dollars to Quebec City in order to buy the statue and bring it to Gotham. Not surprisingly, Quebec City is completely against the idea."

Naruto was not able to find his words for a few long moments.

"In less than 3 days after releasing the statue to the public, hordes of tourists were attracted to it." Rupert continued to speak while he logged in on a social platform and clicked on the profiles of various people in his Friends List. "Look how many people took selfies with your statue and posted them as their profile pics."

There were people of all ages and genders. Children with whisker-like marks painted on their cheeks were hugging the statue's legs, guys were taking cool poses next to it, while there were some girls that were even kissing the statue on the cheeks. It got to the point where - according to Rupert - they forbid people from touching the statue anymore, afraid of them damaging it somehow. Even so, the number of tourists coming to Quebec in order to see Uzumaki Naruto's statue still kept increasing every day.

Rupert's intelligence was not ordinary so it was not hard for him to deduce the reason for Naruto's silence. He said:

"I think you're not fully aware of it, but people have always had a good impression of you. Now, after you nearly died and lost a whole arm to stop Doomsday, they basically worship you."

As to enforce his words, Rupert started showing him tens of blogs and articles about him. Some of them even creeped him out as they contained photos of him secretly snapped by what looked like paparazzi while he was doing simple, mundane things like eating at Ichiraku's restaurant from Gotham's China town together with his sister, going to Wallmart for shopping or Galatea taking him out for a walk in his wheelchair.

"There are even fan-made fictional stories in which you're the main character. There is also written smut where you're coupled most of the time with your lover, Galatea - most of your fans totally dig the relationship the two of you have - but there are many more stories in which you have a harem and you get to bag Wonder Woman, Supergirl and pretty much every hot metahuman babe you can think of. If you wanna be grossed out, there's even smut about you and your sister. Look..." he said and he started to read a paragraph from a story he found out:

 _"Misaki cried out in a sweet voice: 'Onii-chan, we can't do this. What would other people think?!'  
'I don't care what others think. I love you!' he said and his lips -"_

"Holy crap, that's enough!" Naruto cut his words off and shouted in disbelief. He palmed his own forehead not even knowing how to react.

It was only after Naruto left that Rupert finally allowed himself to fall into a bout of uncontrollable laughter. It was the first time he had seen such a vivid expression of shock on Naruto's face.

 _Scene break_

The mood in the Hall of Justice at the top of the Watchtower was sombre. The occupants of the room were also much more numerous compared to other times seeing as nearly all the Justice League members not on duty in the field were gathered together.

"Do you think any of the people in power would actually listen to this warning?" one of the members said sceptically.

"The mayor of Metropolis is a good friend of mine. At my request, he will mobilize and prepare for an evacuation en masse." Superman replied.

"Gotham City would, as well." Batman added too.

"I do not see the mayor of other cities taking any of us seriously though. For that matter, I don't see anyone else really listening to any warnings we might give them." Hawkwoman said and nobody argued with her words. The reason for that was that they had no real proof that anything was going to really happen.

Doctor Fate had been in seclusion for a few good weeks, assimilating the memories that the Future Doctor Fate had imparted to him before fading away. Now, he had finally come out and asked for the Justice League to gather, in order to confirm that Uzumaki Naruto's words about the future invasion were true and plan ahead for the future.

"We keep hearing that someone is going to invade the Earth. Who is it exactly? We need more information, we need to devise plans and strategies to prepare for it." Wonder Woman said and a murmur of agreement buzzed through the tens of superheroes in the room.

Doctor Fate stood up from his seat to face everyone else.

"It's the Yellow Lantern Corps."

Many of the ones gathered were not really aware of the existence of a Yellow Lantern Corps. But the two Green Lanterns there, however, were perfectly aware of them. It had been only 2-3 months since the Yellow Lanterns attacked Oa, killed a lot of Green Lanterns and also broke out of their confinement one of the most terrible enemies the Green Lanterns have ever faced - Superboy-Prime.

"Why would the Yellow Lanterns be interested in Earth of all the places? The Guardians are certain that it's Oa that's going to be attacked soon, not any other place, let alone the Earth." Hal Jordan stated.

"And that is exactly why they successfully destroyed the Earth the first time around." Doctor Fate said grimly. "Their attack was unexpected."

"The Earth was ruined. A massive genocide occurred and the whole planet was eventually destroyed altogether... that's why I travelled back in time. It was a risky decision. I could have lost myself, wandering for the eternity somewhere in between realities but, at that point, there wasn't much more to lose than I had already lost. I had to make a gamble."

Everyone was dead silent at his words and Doctor Fate took the chance to continue.

"In the first timeline, I did not save Uzumaki Naruto and Galatea, the clone, when the nuclear missile detonated. But the demonic beast that Uzumaki always keeps around had somehow survived. Once it recovered, it went to Russia and razed off the map the Moscow City and its surroundings. Over 10 million people died that day. But they were not the only ones to die. The Justice League intervened in order to contain the beast - and they were able to defeat it but they paid a great price. Many of you died that day."

"Following that, when Doomsday appeared, Superman and Supergirl lost their lives too, sacrificing themselves to kill the beast."

"The Justice League became just a shell of its former shell. It was severely weakened. By the time the Green Lanterns arrived on Earth, most of us had already been killed off. Even when the Green Lanterns came in the fray, the Sinestro Corps together with an evil alternate version of Superman decimated everyone."

The previously dead-silent superheroes grew restless at the mention of an alternate version of Superman. John Stewart explained:

"He calls himself Superboy-Prime. After the incident with the Justice Lords, now we all know that there are several other alternate dimensions to our own. This guy is from an alternate dimension too. And he is nothing like Superman."

"He is vicious, cruel and has almost no weaknesses. Kryptonite and magic don't seem to have any effect on him and he's so powerful that he alone had invaded Oa a few years ago. He broke through a 300 _miles_ thick wall-like construct of willpower and slaughtered 32 Green Lanterns before he was finally overpowered. He was imprisoned until a few months ago when the Yellow Lantern Corps attacked Oa and broke him out."

Feeling the continuously increasing negative emotions within everyone around him, Doctor Fate said:

"But that's why I travelled back in time: to change the future. Uzumaki Naruto and Galatea are both very powerful, you don't need me to remind you of that. And they will be on our side. The powerful demonic beast of Uzumaki will also fight by our side. Furthermore, Superman and Supergirl are still alive and none of the other members of the League perished against the beast either."

"Together, we are far from being weak. Now, we are not as weak as we were in the future. In addition, we have time to prepare for their arrival. Hal Jordon and John Stewart will also make sure to inform the Guardians about Sinestro's next move."

Then, with his voice taking on a powerful tone, Doctor Fate said full of confidence:

"I have no doubt whatsoever that we will emerge victorious in this fight!"

"Our only worry right now is this: we have to find a way to reduce the losses of human lives that occurred the first time around. If we evacuate the cities that are going to be targeted, we can prevent many innocent people from being killed in the fire."

Doctor Fate's words instilled a feeling of vigour in the rest of the Justice League members.

"In the first wave of their attacks, the Yellow Lanterns will be targeting the major cities on the Eastern Coast of the USA. They chose the USA as their first target because they wanted to eliminate right away the only people capable of putting up a fight against them - the Justice League. We all know that while there are quite a few other groups of superheroes across the Globe, none of them is anywhere close to being as powerful as the Justice League."

"Specifically, these cities suffered the burnt of their first wave of attacks: Metropolis, New York, Gotham..."

[...]

 _Scene break_

By the time he got home, Naruto was still very distracted by the things that he had learned from Rupert.

 _'Those people had actually built a statue for me...'_

It was not like it was the first time he was experiencing the feeling of being respected by the people around him - in his past life, after he saved Konohagakure no Sato from Pain and convinced him to bring everyone he had killed, back to life, the villagers also began to think of him as of a hero. However, before that, he had risked his life to protect the village more time than he could count. He had worked day and night, for years, in order to earn their respect, to be acknowledged. It had been his dream to become the Hokage and have his face carved on the Hokage Monument, next to his predecessors. But that was all that it had been - just a dream; Uchiha Madara had made sure of that. Madara had killed him and Uchiha Sasuke and ensnared the rest of the world inside the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

In his present life, Naruto had never tried to play the hero. Even when he fought against Doomsday, he did it with the safety of his sister in mind, not that of the strangers. However, as if to mock his entire past life's efforts, in his current life, he became a hero beloved by the people, without even trying or caring about it! People's respect for him was to the extent that they even raised a statue in his honour!

So deep in his thoughts he had been that he nearly missed the fact that someone was sitting in his bed when he arrived home and entered his bedroom. There on his bed, a very familiar nine-tailed fox cub was waiting for him half-asleep, his tails lazily swishing in the air every now and then. It was none other than Kyuubi. However, there was something different about him. A yellow glow of light was coating his body and a bright yellow ring was around his right paw almost like a bracelet. Previously not wearing any clothes, the fox was currently sporting a yellow and black top with the symbol of a lantern printed on the chest.

Kyuubi was now part of the Yellow Lantern Corps!

* * *

AN: Originally, I planned on making the Yellow Lantern Corps the second before the final arc of the story - you prolly got hints of it when I talked about the Gates of Tartarus beneath Themyscira and how the God of War was getting stronger from feeding on the fear and discord between humans. But I am very tempted to end the fic with this Yellow Lantern Arc.  
It's not because I am tired of this fic or anything the like. I just feel like the story arc that follows after the Yellow Lantern Corps, is gonna make it feel repetitive. I mean, _another_ invasion? I don't want to drag the story on for the word count or other bullshit...I don't want it to become boring for you. In my opinion, ending it after this arc would be better for the story. Do let me know what you think, I'm willing to listen to your opinions.

(1) The statue was raised in Quebec because that's where Naruto fought Doomsday - on the shore of Hudson Bay that belongs to Quebec state.

 _(Not an English native and I have no beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


	48. Chapter 48 - I don't wanna wait

AN: For those interested, I have started the rewrite for **Gorgoneion** , a Harry Potter fic. There already are 4 chapters published, with the 5th hopefully coming out in the following two days or so.

"Hello" - normal talking

 _'Hello' -_ thoughts.

* * *

 **Chapter 48 - I don't wanna wait**

 _(previous chapter)_

 _So deep in his thoughts he had been that he nearly missed the fact that someone was sitting in his bed when he arrived home and entered his bedroom. There on his bed, a very familiar nine-tailed fox cub was waiting for him half-asleep, his tails lazily swishing in the air every now and then. It was none other than Kyuubi. However, there was something different about him. A yellow glow of light was coating his body and a bright yellow ring was around his right paw almost like a bracelet. Previously not wearing any clothes, the fox was currently sporting a yellow and black top with the symbol of a lantern printed on the chest._

But when Naruto finally took notice of the light in the semi-darkness of the room, he exclaimed:

"Kurama! Where you have you been?"

He was about to grab the fox cub from the scruff of his neck like he had done many times before, but the way the fox was looking at him stopped him in his tracks.

"Y-Yo, furball, are you alright? What's with the glittery light around you?"

A primal growl rumbled from the fox's throat and, despite being in his miniaturized form, his voice was not squeaky like usual; it sounded deep and demonic, just like when his body was at his original size. The walls of the house vibrated from how powerful his boomed was when he spoke:

 **"Naruto... what happened to your arm?"**

The yellow glow around the fox began to flicker and sway as a red haze seeped out of his body. Seeing the blonde not replying right away, Kyuubi's rage only increased.

 **"WHO DID THIS TO YOU, NARUTO?!"** he roared and his crimson red chakra burst from his body, making the windows of the room shatter and pushing the furniture towards the other end of the room.

Naruto could feel that he was about to go on a rampage.

 _'This idiot is gonna destroy the house.'_

All of a sudden, a heavy fist smashed against the puny fox's head, flattening him into the floor like a pita.

"What was that for, asshole?!" with a squeaky voice now, Kyuubi yelled in outrage.

"Back to your senses? Or you want me to kick your furry ass for trying to destroy our home?"

Now more collected, Kyuubi just looked at Naruto...and then back at his missing arm. A growl continued to rumble quietly from his chest. But in the end, he made an effort to calm down. Recalling how Naruto just punched him in the head, he snorted at him. Then, raising his snout up in an arrogant manner, his body began to float off the floor. Naruto looked at him frozen, too startled to react in any other way. A guffaw came from the fox.

"Aren't I majestic? Um? Tell me, tell me!" Kyuubi gloated as he floated on the same eye level with Naruto, his whole demeanour oozing with pride.

When he finally found his words, Naruto said in amazement:

"Holy crap, you can fly!"

The fox laughed out in delight.

"Gahaha! Kyuubi-sama has no other weakness anymore. A perfect all-rounder!"

"Tell me I'm the greatest!"

Naruto's amazement was soon replaced by annoyance when Kyuubi continued to shamelessly brag and demand to be praised. Instead of praising him, Naruto suddenly grabbed the fox by one of his ears and started to dig his knuckles into his head.

"Where have you been this entire month? I was getting really worried about you!"

A yellow bubble of light was conjured from the like ring around the fox's small paw and he managed to get away from Naruto's grasp. Once he did that, Kyuubi's playfulness disappeared and an air of seriousness appeared around him.

"Naruto, we need to talk. You have to tell me what happened to you while I was gone. I didn't think there was anyone strong enough here to bring you to such a state..."

"You'll also need to listen to the news I've brought. That wizard human that claimed that he travelled in time appears to have spoken the truth. I think Galatea should hear this too."

 _A few minutes later..._

"So you're telling me that now you're part of an organisation similar to the Green Lanterns and that your fellow Yellow Lanterns are going to invade the Earth soon?"

Naruto didn't know what to make of the situation.

"How did this happen? Where have you been before that anyway?"

"Didn't that fatass tell you anything?" Kyuubi asked.

"He's apparently more terrified of you than he is of me. I couldn't get anything out of him without resorting to violence."

Kyuubi smirked and his 9 bushy tails began to flail in pride.

"At least he knows who's the boss. HAHA!"

"The boss? You?" Naruto laughed and bonked him on the snout.

The fox almost lashed out by reflex with one of his tails to smack Naruto right back. They used to do it before all the time - that was how their weekly brawls started every time. But his tail stopped mid-way when his eyes fell once again on the crippled remains of Naruto's left shoulder.

Seemingly oblivious to Kyuubi's feelings or regret at his condition, Naruto asked again:

"So, are you going to tell me what have you been up to this entire time?"

A sigh came from Kyuubi but he no longer dragged the time.

"I was in Japan. I took the fatass with me because I had to travel by plane and taking a human as my 'owner' was the only way to do it."

"Um, if you just told Galatea, she could have flown you there faster than a military jet, let alone a commercial airplane." Naruto interjected.

"The point was for you to not find out. It was supposed to be a secret. And I doubt your darling over there would keep any secrets from you." Kyuubi retorted, drawing a "Damn straight!" from Galatea who just happened to arrive in the room at that moment.

"Hee~ and what was it that required so much secrecy? What did you do in Japan?"

"I killed the Uchihas. All of them, until the very last member of the family."

Silence instilled in the room and the wind blew through the window Kyuubi had broken before, making it even more obvious how uncomfortable the situation appeared to have become.

After remembering his past life, Naruto realized that he was not the only one that had been reincarnated into this new reality. After all, he knew personally the Inzuka family, he met Orochimaru, he heard of Uchiha Itachi and, before he recovered his memories, Might Guy and Rock Lee had come to challenge the Monkey King Dojo - his grandfather, Sarutobi Hirzuen's dojo. But, while he knew all that, he had never thought about it too deeply. After all, only Orochimaru could remember his past life alone, Naruto himself recovered his memories only because of Kyuubi. He understood that even if he met any of them again, there would still be no common ground between them. Now, they were all different persons. Just strangers.

Still, in his past life, Naruto had thought of Uchiha Sasuke as of a brother in all but blood. He cared so much about him that he had even been willing to forgive him for nearly killing him 2 times. While in his present life Naruto held none of his previous affection for the Uchiha, he could still not help the feeling of regret that surfaced in his heart when he heard that Sasuke was killed together with the rest of his family. He would have liked to at least see what kind of person was Sasuke in the current life, where he had grown up like any other ordinary human, surrounded by his family.

Seeing how silent Naruto became at his words, Kyuubi felt an odd urge to explain himself.

"Uchiha Itachi had awakened the Sharingan in this life too somehow. Although he died, I couldn't leave the risk of another human awakening those damned eyes. You know very well how much I suffered because of this cursed Doujutsu in our past lives. For nearly 80 years I've been imprisoned, caged like a mindless beast! By humans!"

"I see you and your sister as my own family now, Naruto. I also tolerate this blonde girl you seem to like and your sister's friend, the redhead... But I have no lost love for the rest of the humans. The four of you are just an exception."

"My hate for your kind has never decreased. I have not forgotten what they did to me in my past life. I have not forgotten the torture they put Mito through in their laboratories in our current reality either."

"Moreover, above all, I am a Demon. I will always look out for my well-being. I saw a chance to eliminate the only thing with the potential to harm me and I took it. There will never be a Sharingan wielder in this world again."

A drawn-out sigh came from Naruto.

"I'm not holding it against you, Kurama. I'd be a hypocrite if I did that...After all, hundreds of people died at my hands. If I were to see someone like Madara or Obito in this life, even if they were the kindest and most honest people in the world this time around, I'd still kill them before they could blink twice."

Kyuubi did not let it show on his face, but he was inwardly relieved that Naruto had not reacted negatively to what he had done. Kyuubi had killed the Uchiha behind Naruto's back because the fox's memories of their past lives were still fresh. He could still remember how irrational and impulsive would Naruto become every time he thought about Uchiha Sasuke.

While Kyuubi knew that the current Naruto was drastically different from the one in his past life, he thought that it was still better not to try his luck. He didn't want anyone to stop him from killing the Uchiha, the only ones that had the potential to one day develop the Sharingan and manipulate him again. Seeing that Naruto was actually not condemning his deeds only increased his appreciation for the changes in Naruto's mentality and personality.

"How did you become a Yellow Lantern?" Galatea asked. "From what we know, apparently, to become a Green Lantern, you need to have a very powerful will or something like that. What's the requirement for owning a Yellow Power Ring?"

A malicious grin appeared on Kyuubi's face when he said:

"Fear."

Seeing the confused expression on Naruto's and Galatea's faces, Kyuubi explained:

"The requirements are very simple. When a Yellow Power Ring is searching for an owner, it is looking for 2 traits in people:"

A construct of yellow light in the form of a human hand was conjured from the ring and it showed an index finger as Kyuubi continued:

"First, it's the ability to create fear. And the second -" the construct in the shape of hand raised another finger "is to be fearless."

Naruto looked unimpressed.

"The requirements are quite low. Many people could probably be chosen."

Galatea, however, picked up on the meaning of the 2nd trait that Kyuubi talked about.

"I wouldn't say that... everyone has fears."

"I'm not afraid of anything though? I'm honest." Naruto said, not bragging, just stating what he considered as a true fact.

"You may not be afraid of death, pain or torture but you are still afraid of something... after all, you would not have 2 of your Shadow Clones constantly stalking after your sister in disguise, every day, to make sure that she is safe and protected at all times." Galatea said and Naruto finally realized that he had been confounding being fearless with being courageous.

As if knowing his thoughts, Kyuubi added:

"Being fearless means that you are literally not afraid of anything. There is nothing to hold you back. Nobody would be able to blackmail you with anything. Having no fear... this is what true freedom is!"

Kyuubi's words were passionate as he continued to speak.

"Look at me. When I am at my original size, my appearance alone instils not mere fear but terror in the hearts of everyone who sees me. You could say that this power ring was tailor-made for someone like me."

''But, despite that new Yellow Lanterns are chosen nearly every weeks because of the death of another, it was only after I killed the last Uchiha alive that a Yellow Power Ring chose me, finding me worthy. Until then, I still had one fear: that one day, one of the descendants of the Uchiha in this world would awaken a Sharingan powerful enough to ensnare me into a genjutsu once again."

"However, now that I killed them all, I have no fear."

None of them said anything after that for a few long moments. Eventually, Naruto asked a question that had been on his mind from the first moment he heard that the Yellow Lanterns would invade Earth:

"Where does this leave us? What are you going to do?"

Kyuubi looked up at Naruto startled.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Galatea sat up from the sofa and quickly got in front of Naruto protectively. A subtle killing intent started to slowly make the air become denser and her originally baby blue eyes flickered with a crimson red colour - she was ready at any moment to shoot out a devastating ray of heat from her eyes. She spoke calmly, but not only Kyuubi, even Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand at the ends:

"What he means is simple: are you still our friend or our enemy? On which side are you now?"

The tension in the room became almost unbearable. Naruto placed his only hand on Galatea's shoulder.

"Tea, that's enough. Even if-"

"NO! I nearly lost you once. I won't let it happen ever again!" she said categorically.

While she spoke, Galatea red eyes never left Kyuubi's frame.

"I don't wanna find ourselves backstabbed when we least expect it! Say it clearly, fox, on which side are you? Otherwise..." she trailed off but the other two occupants of the room were clear on what she meant. She was ready to have a deadly battle right then, right there. Galatea was committed to cutting the problem from its roots.

But, unlike what Naruto expected, Kyuubi's reaction at Galatea's threats and hostile behaviour was not violent. The fox remained calm, only looking past Galatea's shoulder, into his eyes.

Kyuubi willed his ring to make him fly until he came in front of Galatea. Slowly, without saying even one word, Kyuubi just raised his small paw in front of him.

Galatea prepared herself, expecting an attack but Naruto gently squeezed her shoulder and said:

"It's ok, Tea. Thank you for standing up to me, but I got this."

He did not say it with words how grateful he was to see her trying to protect him but, when their eyes met, Galatea's crimson eyes flickered back to their baby blue colour. It was one of those moments when two people would miraculously understand everything the other thought just from gazing into each other's eyes. She could see his gratitude, his happiness...his love. And she felt overwhelmed by the intensity of his emotions.

Turning to look at Kyuubi, Naruto also extended his right fist. Just like they had done it a few times before, Naruto's and Kyuubi's hands met in a fist bump. It was a gesture of absolute trust. At that moment, they saw the truth into the other's heart. Naruto saw Kyuubi's thoughts. And the memories of how Kyuubi refused to leave him even when it looked like they were going to get killed by the hundreds of metahumans that attacked them on the Prison Island. Naruto remembered Kyuubi's words from back then:

 ** _"Who the fuck do you think I am? Do you think I am a flimsy human that would cower away and abandon you just like that? Huh?!"_**

 ** _"This is not like in our past life... You are not my jailor. We are not enemies anymore. You are my partner. If you live, I live. If you die, I die. You are my friend, Naruto."_**

Naruto remembered how, only a few moments after that, Kyuubi had been prepared to even sacrifice his life as he shielded him from the lightning strikes of the Heavenly Tribulation...Naruto recalled the memory of how, after finally regaining his freedom and independence, Kyuubi willing bound himself to him in a Summoning Contract just to be able to arrive in time on top of the Atlantic Ocean, to aid and protect him from the squad of Green Lanterns that had come to John Stewart's distress signal.

Naruto had known it from before, but recalling all those memories confirmed it again that Kyuubi was the best friend he could have ever asked for. He knew in his heart that Kyuubi would never betray him.

 _Scene break_

 _'She's progressing at an amazing pace. She's amazing.'_ Naruto thought as his mind went back to the training session that had just ended.

 _'After only 2 weeks, she can already control her fire chakra to perfection!'_

After Kyuubi informed them in detail about Sinestro Corps' plan he also told them about the most powerful ones in their ranks. Even Kyuubi was forced to recognize the god-like power of Superboy-Prime, a fact which made both Naruto and Galatea wary of the situation.

Galatea, specifically, decided to step on her pride and admit that she still had ways to go. Until then, she had considered herself the ultimate warrior. A perfect weapon. However, when faced with the possibility that, at least according to Kyuubi's claims, there was someone out there against whom she would stand no chance, she resolved herself to become even stronger. And the obvious solution to that was to master the energy that her creator had gone to great lengths to plant in her body: chakra. Although she had neglected it until then, she knew that Orochimaru had been firmly convinced that it was only when she mastered her chakra that she would become truly perfect.

Thus, with Naruto's assistance, she threw herself into training as if her life depended on it. Naruto was no longer as powerful as before...and she did not want to lose him. Her drive to become even more powerful was for his sake. She wanted to protect the one person she loved more than anything. She did not want to even think how would her life be after he died. She has lived for only a few years and she already lost the one she saw as her father. She could not bear with losing Naruto as well.

And Naruto was aware of these things too because Galatea was very open about what she felt for him. He felt needed, he felt loved. That knowledge that Galatea wanted him just as much as he wanted her filled him with a warmth that had nothing to do with the hot water that poured on his head from the shower.

Naruto grabbed the bottle of shampoo and, since he had only one arm, directly squeezed some of its contents on top of his head. Then, he put it down and started to run his hand through his hair to wash it. When he began to rinse it however, it became apparent that he had used too much shampoo once again. He had no way of knowing how much shampoo he used until he rinsed his hair and saw how the foam and bubbles continued to pour in an unending stream.

Mildly annoyed, he scrubbed at his hair energetically, murmuring:

"Not having an arm sucks big time."

It inconvenienced him not only in doing important things but even in the mundane aspects of his daily life like when he was taking a shower, changing his clothes or eating.

After a while, his hair was finally rinsed properly. He was about to turn off the water and step out of the shower when two slender arms suddenly wrapped around his torso from behind. He was so startled that he lost his footing and he would have slipped but the two deceptively feeble hands around him were much stronger than they appeared. When he stabilized himself, his entire body shivered at the feeling of a woman's breasts pressing against his back.

"Galatea! W-What are you doing here?!" he almost yelled, gasping for breath from the unexpected stimulation.

"Taking a shower. You're the one who got me all dirty and sweaty."

He would have pointed out that she never sweated - a perk of her Kryptonian physiology - but the place on his back where the peaks of her breasts touched him felt like it was burning. When her hands began to roam on his body, his temperature rose several degrees. One of her hands went up and greedily fondled at his muscular chest while the other traced his well-sculpted abs, slowly moving towards the South.

Just the thought that she was going to touch him down there brought him at full mast and he muttered almost against his will.

"We... we have to stop or..."

Galatea's left hand stopped going lower but she pressed herself tighter against his back.

"Why?" she asked and she placed her lips on his neck, giving him a soft kiss.

"Don't you feel attracted to me?" she asked again and she kissed his neck one more time, making his body tremble in her arms.

"Of course I do! It's just that-" Naruto began but stopped when Galatea rested her cheek on his shoulder blade and sighed.

"We live dangerous lives, Naruto." she said softly, her voice nearly being covered by the sound of the water running on them. "You nearly died a few weeks ago. I almost lost you..."

"I - " she bit her lip and paused when her voice started to shake. "I hate to say it but we don't know for how long we'll live. Tomorrow could very well be my or your last day."

Naruto turned around in her hold and hugged her with his right arm too.

"Don't speak like that! Individually, we're very strong already. But when we're together, nothing can stop us. Nothing will come in between us!" Naruto said and kissed the top of her wet hair.

Galatea pushed her face into the crook of his neck and nuzzled him.

"I don't wanna wait for another day!"

"I don't wanna waste any of the moments I have with you!"

"Make love to me, Naruto!"

He was ashamed of the fact that, technically, he was a 36-year-old virgin if he counted both his past and present life. He had never even initiated a kiss with a girl before he fell in love with Galatea. And now, he was anxious that he would not be good enough. Having become handicapped had also affected his confidence.

But when she said those words, the walls that his insecurities had built around him collapsed. A loyal, loving and protective woman was offering herself to him. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was all his. And he was hers only. What was he getting the cold feet now for?

Their eyes met and Naruto lost himself in her blue orbs. His hand reached to her face and his calloused thumb softly touched her defined cheekbones. He caressed her cheek and then, her eyes closed and her breathing quickened when his thumb gently traced her plush lower lip.

"So beautiful..."

Her arms suddenly embraced his neck and she pressed with her hands against the back of his head as their lips met in their most passionate kiss yet. Her full lips mashed against his and she gasped in both surprise and need when his tongue sneaked into her mouth. The water of the shower got cold for a few moments until the boiler heated up another round but they were so lost in pleasure that they hardly noticed it. It was as though the surrounding world stopped existing for them.

Soon, the need for air made Naruto break the kiss but he dived right back in with the same fervour. He pushed her against the wall and one of her toned legs wrapped around his waist. His hand grabbed her thigh and he ground himself against her. Feeling him brush against her core made her go weak in the knees and she threw her head back, her breath coming out in gasps.

"Did you just..." he asked but Galatea refused to meet his eyes.

Her face and neck were a feverish red and her breath came erratically through her red, slightly swollen lips.

The face she was making coupled with the unexpected shyness she was showing almost made him lose it. She was the one that seduced him into this, the contrast between her previous assertiveness and her current shyness was too much! He hated that he did not have both of his arms to wrap around her. As he embraced her, her voice whispered hotly into his ear:

"I'm ready for you. Give it to me!" And if that was not enough, she bit and pulled on the lob of his ear with her teeth.

The tiles on the bathroom wall cracked when he abruptly lifted her up and pressed her against the wall with his body. Her long, athletic legs spread for him and then he groaned at the feeling of them locking around his waist, with her thick thighs snugly pressing against his sides.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?" he asked, his voice thick with want.

One moment assertive, the next moment shy and then again seductive. His self-control never stood a chance. He could no longer resist her. Before he completely lost himself, he said:

"You were my first kiss. You are my first love. And this is my first time."

"I want you to be my one and only. I love you!"

Then, he thrust himself in her. A moan of both pain and pleasure came from both of them. Her muscles contracted and her legs pushed him inside her till the end.

They stood still for a few moments, to adjust themselves to the new sensation. Because of the water pouring from above, he could not see the tears that streamed down her cheeks, but he did hear the small sobs she made.

"Tea, I'm sorry, did I hurt you?!"

Her hymen broke years before, during the strenuous training regiment in the military facility where she had been raised. She felt no real pain, only some discomfort. At his worried tone, despite her sobs, a beautiful smile bloomed on her face.

"No, I'm just...I'm so happy!"

Relieved, he pulled out and thrust back in. The gasps she made sounded sweet in his ears. The grunts coming from him were turning her on more with each passing second.

Not for the first time, he cursed the fact that he did not have 4 hands instead of only one. He could not get enough of touching her body... the svelte legs that were wrapped around him, her luscious hips, her full, round and soft breasts with nipples of an alluring red, the defined muscles on her abdomen and her tight, wide ass contracting every time he pushed inside her... She drove him mad. It did not take long before he emptied himself inside her.

But her effect on him was so great that it took only a few moments of kissing for him to be ready for her again.

That night, a deeply embarrassed Misaki found herself in front of Barbara's apartment, knocking on her door. Naruto and Galatea did not stop their love-making after getting out of the shower. Their cries of pleasure and the shaking of the entire house with their every movement forced Misaki to make a run for it. Their activities were to much for the poor girl to ignore.

* * *

AN: I know quite a few of you thought that Kyuubi betrayed Naruto, that he had turned against him. Probably it would have been more interesting for some of you but that's not gonna happen. Sorry to let your hopes down, but I could never ruin something so beautiful. The friendship that they had built during this story is too precious.

 **I bet you didn't expect the lemony surprise in this chapter** **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

...It was my first attempt at writing a sex scene. Putting aside the embarrassment that comes with writing something like this, I do not know if it was any good. I wanted to focus on the emotional aspect of their lovemaking too, not only on lust. Through this scene, they finally became one, closer than ever before. I hope you liked it. Do let me know if you enjoyed the chapter. Cheers!

 _(Not an English native and I have no beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)_


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